Black Sheep Third Time's the Charm
by Wynja
Summary: Robin thought the mission would be a walk in the park, but the park is bigger than he bargained for and the opponent his toughest yet… /Sladin slash
1. SOS

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Teen Titans or any of the other canon DC characters who may appear in this story. The OC's are mine, but that's nothing to boast about. Oh, I also do not make any money from this. Only reviews. I hope. This disclaimer goes for the whole story, of course…

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Hello!

You thought it was a myth, but here it is, the first chapter of Black Sheep 3 (the real title below). It's long awaited, I know, and I'm very nervous… it can't possibly live up to everybody's expectations, but I've tried my best…

You should read "Black Sheep Wanted", and "Black Sheep 2: Most Wanted", before this, but I think you understand that… -pats clever reader on the head- ;)

Something else I've tried is the patience of **Jayto**, who is my beta-muse for this story! She has read the existing chapters in peace but now, as I have to keep up, the real work begins, honey! ;) If there are any typos and stuff left, they are mine, I love them, and I intend to keep them! Oh, okay, cookies for corrections as usual, then!

I will be posting about once a week, but the day might vary slightly… Go join "WynjasTinyDucklings" on DA while you wait!

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Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm

**Chapter 1: S.O.S.**

It all started with a call.

The Titan's leader flipped the lid of his communicator open.

"Robin here."

"It's me. You have to get over here. Right now."

"Slade? This is not an emergency booty-call again, is it?" Robin smirked. "Because there _are_ no such things, you know… I looked it up."

"Something's happened… it's… it's Rose. Hurry."

The line went dead.

* * *

Robin's heart started beating faster as he hurried down to the garage.

"I'm going to Slade's!" he shouted to Cyborg, who was down there with his precious T-car. "It's important!"

"Yeah, but if you come back with a silly grin on your face, you're busted, man…" Cyborg called after him.

Robin ignored the jibe and straddled his bike; the Harley Slade had given him, and took off.

The not-so-former mercenary had taken a small apartment by the docks. It was more of an over-night place in a dingy area, although the neighborhood's reputation had gotten a bit better since it seemed a certain hero had taken a special interest in it.

The trip took only a few minutes, but a thousand thoughts had plenty of time to run through Robin's mind. He had spoken to Bruce and Rose only a few days ago. Of course, _seconds_ were enough for something to happen… was it Batman-related? Had she been hurt, maybe kidnapped? Was Bruce okay? Alfred?

By pressing a button on the bike's handle, a garage-door on the side of the building opened as Robin drove up. It was a safety-measurement as well as a convenience; Robin didn't want to leave the bike on the streets in this area.

Too agitated to wait for the ancient and slow elevator, Robin started running up the stairs, all fifteen of them, until he reached Slade's floor. He had his own key, and stormed inside, where the man was pacing.

"What? What is it? What happened?" he cried out.

Slade, looking ashen-faced, barely stopped pacing.

"She… they…"

"_They_? Slade! Just _tell_ me!" Robin went as far as to get in the man's way and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "Tell me _now_!"

"They are getting _married_!"

* * *

Five minutes later, Robin was still staring at Slade with his mouth open.

"They… they _what_?"

"I know!" Slade growled and threw his arms out in a desperate gesture that looked weird on the man. "She just called me!"

Robin sank down in a second-hand sofa, which actually had been left by the previous owner. Robin had been avoiding it up until now, because it looked like it had seen its share of weird stuff, but right now he was just glad that something caught him before he hit the floor.

"Slade, _that's_ not a catastrophe! It's a bit soon, perhaps, they have only been together for what? Six months?"

"Yes! It's too soon! _That's_ what I'll tell her!" Slade looked happier now when he had an argument.

"Maybe they _have_ to get married, if you know what I mean?" Robin leered. Slade was _never _this upset, and he only got this way when it came to his daughter. Robin's friends had claimed the man had been acting rather erratic while Robin himself had been injured by Blood, but the teen didn't really believe it had been as bad as Speedy and the others said. Now his words flipped a whole new switch in the man's brain, though.

"I'll _kill_ him!"

Slade really looked like he was on his way to Gotham right that instant, on foot, if need be, so Robin got in his way again.

"Sit. Down."

"Right after I make you an orphan again," Slade snarled.

"No. _Now_." Robin knew his words didn't stand a chance of reaching Slade at the moment, but a flying tackle did. The man lost his footing and plopped down on the sofa. Robin was quick to straddle him.

"_Think_ about it, idiot!" Robin growled. "If Rose is pregnant, and I said _if_, I bet they are both deliriously happy! Bruce will make a great dad, and have you considered the best thing?"

"There's no 'best thing'… there's not even a 'not so bad' thing…" Slade sulked.

"There will be a little boy or girl, with _your_ smile, inheriting _all_ of Bruce's money… and driving him nuts in the process…" Robin smirked. "And you can teach the kid how to do it _perfectly_…"

Slade's eye narrowed slightly, but when a smirk started to play in the corners of his lips, Robin knew he had won this round.

"Hmmm…." the man hummed. "I might…"

"And you will. One day. Now, let's call them and congratulate them, shall we? I bet you didn't do that before, did you?"

"I… think I just hung up…" Slade mumbled.

* * *

"'Just hung up'?" Robin repeated a few moments later. He was standing in front of the computer Slade had used to talk to Rose, and it had a fist-sized hole in the screen. The teen gave the mercenary a level look, and Slade actually seemed slightly abashed. Muttering about stupid old men, Robin hooked the computer and camera up to the TV instead, and made the call.

Rose answered promptly, looking nervous.

"Robin! You must go to Slade, I- oh! Hi dad."

"I've just heard. Congratulations!" Robin grinned.

"I wanted to tell dad first, sorry Robin…" Rose said. "Not the smartest thing to do, perhaps."

"Don't worry about it," Robin shrugged. "Now… Slade… Is there something you wanted to say?"

The man muttered a bit.

"Ooookay…" Robin rolled his eyes. "You might not have caught that, Rose, but Slade is giving you his blessing and wishes you all the happiness in the world."

"I'm sure he does…" Rose snickered, and then looked over her shoulder. "Honey? You can lower the defenses; dad is not on his way to kill you!"

"I wasn't worried; it was just a routine security check…" Robin heard Bruce mutter just before he showed up on the screen.

"Sure it was, Bruce," the teen grinned. "Congrats! By the way, did you knock her up?" Robin felt Slade tense beside him, and the couple on the screen gasped and blushed.

"Robin! What a horrible way to ask! And no, he hasn't… _yet_." Rose looked half shocked, half amused.

Slade muttered something about Bruce being lucky, but in general, seemed to be in pretty good control at the moment.

"So, when is the wedding?" Robin asked.

"In two weeks," Rose answered.

"Wow! That soon?" Robin gaped.

"We have been planning it for a month… it's just that we've…" Bruce started.

"Haven't had the guts to tell you," Rose grinned.

"And no one is holding a gun to anyone's head," Bruce clarified, clearly trying to ignore Rose's revelation. "It might seem like it's too soon, but Rose is just the _one_. I've dated enough wrongs to know when I've found the right one, and she is the most amazing woman alive."

Robin had to hold onto Slade's arm as the couple kissed, or this screen would soon also be junk.

"You are all invited, of course, Titans East as well…" Bruce told them as they returned to reality. "You'll get the invitations tomorrow. We will keep it rather small, I think. Close friends and family."

"Hmmm… 'small' by millionaire standards… will Slade have to get an extra job?" Robin grinned.

"What?" the man next to him asked.

"Well, it _is_ the parents of the _bride_ who traditionally pays for the wedding, isn't it?" Robin chuckled.

"You hear that, honey?" Bruce grinned. "How about inviting a few more people? About three- or four hundred more? And I've always liked truffles and Russian caviar…On the other hand…" Bruce's eyes traveled beyond the couple, taking in the bare and run-down living room behind them. "Looks like your dad is a bit short on cash at the moment, Rose… well, a McDonalds wedding can be nice too… if we're lucky we might get the super-size menu…"

"Don't worry about my finances. I'm just renting this to have a place to fuck your ward where people won't come running from the screams…" Slade drawled.

Robin saw the little vein on Bruce's forehead pop, but the man stayed deceivingly calm.

"Interesting how you think he's not worth anything _better_…" Bruce drawled vindictively.

"Oh, shut up, the both of you!" Robin barked. "We picked this place _together_ because it's convenient, all right? Now, I can't wait for the invitations. Let us know if we can help?"

"Thanks Robin…" Rose smiled. "I will… now go calm dad down, and try to find a sedative for the ceremony, okay?"

"Will do!" Robin grinned. "Bye!"

"I don't need a sedative…" Slade muttered. "A set of really sharp throwing-knives, though…"

"Oh, don't be grumpy! Can't you be happy for them?" Robin said. "She could have been marrying Brother Blood, you know."

"I know. I like that idea… _HE's dead_."

"Oh, Lord…" Robin sighed. "Well, if you are going to be like this, _fine_. I have work to do." he headed towards the exit, but was caught around his waist half way there.

"Yes you do…" the man started to carry him towards the bedroom. "You are going to cheer me up."

* * *

The bed was the only furniture in the flat not second hand, but Robin had a feeling it wouldn't last long due to over-use. It had been sturdy when Slade bought it, but it already creaked ominously, especially at times like this.

They had picked it out together, just like the flat, but making it very clear they weren't doing it _together-_together, just that it was the reasonable thing to do, since they would both be using it. They had no problems agreeing on the size (the biggest the store had), the firmness (medium-to-hard), or even the headboard.

They had went to the store incognito, of course, but Robin suspected that they would be remembered, especially since he had spotted the headboard he was currently clutching, and made an unconsciously loud remark about bondage. The thing seemed constructed for it, however, mainly consisting of metal beams welded together to form a sparse grid-like pattern. It reminded him a bit of the bed they had had at the H.I.V.E, but, thankfully, without the bee-cell pattern. The headboard was now making a rather big impact on the wall behind it.

* * *

Robin was extremely close to coming, when a signal, sounding like an old-style phone, made itself known through all the other noise.

"Don't get that!" Robin begged, tightening his legs around Slade's hips.

Slade, however, paid him no mind, and reached for the small, black, logo-less cell phone on the nightstand.

"Yes?" he answered, still moving in and out of Robin, but at a slower and much less satisfying pace. Robin flexed his legs, trying to get him to speed up, but Slade was listening to a voice on the other end.

"Yes," the man said again. "One hour." He then did something Robin wouldn't believe unless he hadn't just experienced it himself: he pulled out. Without coming, and without, more importantly, making _Robin_ come, the man headed for the bathroom.

"What the…?" the teen started. "Slade?"

"That was work, Robin. Get dressed."

"You're kicking me out?"

"No, you can stay, but I'm leaving. Might be a week or two."

"But… we… right _NOW_?" Robin yelled at the closing door.

"If it had been your alarm, would you have let me finish?" Slade's muffled, amused voice said.

"Yes," Robin muttered, feeling very guilty over the fact.

"Don't worry, princess. I always finish what I start. Just consider this very long foreplay," the man said, just before the shower started and drenched all other sounds, including Robin's cursing as he dressed.

* * *

"I can't believe that he just fucking_ left_!" Robin growled to the room in general, as he stormed into the Titan's main lounge.

"Hi, sunshine-boy!" Speedy grinned at him from the screen.

"Hi," Robin muttered, wondering why he was interrupting a call with Titans East. "Has something happened?"

"No, everything's just groovy… not at your end, though? Slade's not riding you hard enough?"

"Exactly!" Robin snarled, not caring that his team cringed and blushed. "He left for a damn mission, right in the middle of-" now Robin noticed the others. "… a game of poker…"

"More like a game of _poke-him_, looks like…" Speedy leered.

"Or tease-and-hold-it?" a new voice broke through, and Robin saw another familiar grin.

"Flame! Please don't tell me Speedy's terrible sense of crude humor has rubbed off on you?" Robin sighed.

"I'm trying to minimalize the damages…" a third person cut in, and Aqualad came into view.

"Work _harder_," Robin grunted. "By the way, I might want Flame back. I need a nice guy right now."

"Sorry, Robin, I have my hands full with these two. Literally," Flame grinned.

"Join us?" Speedy suggested.

"A trio in the Titans East Tower is bad enough. A foursome, and the government_ will_ shut us down," Robin said, rolling his eyes behind his mask.

"Yeah… but we would have fun _until _then, right?" the archer wriggled his eyebrows.

"Where's Bumble Bee? Why isn't she making you do laps or something?" Robin muttered.

"Because it's the middle of the night here?" Aqualad suggested.

"You can't run when it's dark?" Robin shot back teasingly. "All right, I was interrupting something. What did you want?"

"Speak to you, actually," Speedy let him know. "Err… sooo… when is Slade coming back?"

"He didn't know. A week or so. I didn't exactly hang around to get the details… not that he would have told me anyway, the jerk…" Robin added under his breath.

"Great! I mean… well… so then you are free for a few days, right?" Speedy asked.

"Yes, well, I kinda _do _have this city out there…" Robin said dryly and pointed his thumb in the general direction of Jump.

"Yes, yes, but that will hold!" Speedy shrugged. "It's Shield and Shift. They need a hand, and I suggested you."

"I don't know… will it take long? I have some news… actually, I can just tell all of you at once: Rose and Bruce are getting married."

There was a general outburst of cheers and questions.

After their latest adventure, Robin had told both groups of Titans about his and Bruce's identity. It was just the simplest way to go, especially since Rose and Bruce got involved, and the Brother/Sister-project with the teens from the H.I.V.E-academy got started. Shield and Shift also knew, since they worked closely with Rose on the project, as well as getting their own business going at the same time.

"When?"

"Did Slade freak out?"

"Are we invited?"

"Two weeks, more than a little, and yes of course," Robin grinned.

"Well, that's enough time, then! I mean, if you feel up to it, just give them a call, huh?"

"I don't think-" Robin said, but got cut off by Cyborg.

"Well, actually, if Slade just took off, you'll be no joy to have around, so if it's only for a few days…"

"I'm not that bad!" Robin bristled. "Just because he's a complete jerk and the bastard wouldn't know what decency was if it bit him on the ass, I-"

"See? That's the rambling we'll be listening to until you calm down. A bit of a road trip might do you good," his metal friend smirked.

"I think I hate all of you…" Robin muttered and stomped off.

"Boy… that must have been one _hell_ of a poker-game…" Speedy grinned after him.

* * *

After slaughtering a Slade-bot, which he had borrowed as a sparring-partner, the teen had calmed down enough to call Shield.

"Hi! What's new in Gotham?" Robin forced a grin on his face.

"Shift's nose, for one…" Shield grinned back.

"Oh, so his powers are coming along then?" Robin asked, feeling relived. Brother Blood had very nearly killed the teen, and his abilities had been all but gone for a long time.

"Yeah, well, he can change his hair, eyes, nose… general appearance stuff," Shield announced happily.

"But no objects… and not… you know… the other gender?" Robin asked.

"Nope. I'm still a straight guy with a girlfriend who happens to be a boy…" Shield sighed dramatically. "Poor me."

"I'm kinda trying imagining you guys having sex…" Robin laughed.

"Don't, you'll get jealous." the older teen smirked. "So… I guess Speedy harassed you? I told him not to…"

"Well, I just got curious. I'm not making any promises, but I wanted to know what you were up to," Robin said.

"Yes, well, it's a simple thing really… it's a delivery."

"Delivery?" Robin asked. "The mail's not good enough for you?"

"Wouldn't work… You see, it's a very sensitive piece of technology, not much bigger than a USB-stick, but it can't be exposed to any form of electrical or magnetic wave or current."

"Errr… okay… let me just point out that if it is a _technological _item that is not supposed to be used with electronics… it's pretty useless, right?" Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Not the_ wrong_ kind of electronics," Shield explained. "You know how your cell-phone can erase your magnetic cards?"

"Well, that's a bit of a myth in most cases, but yes, I know the theory…" Robin shrugged.

Shield gave him a look like he was being difficult, before continuing.

"Yes, well, it's the same with this… it can only be used in controlled environments. And now it needs to be moved from one such place to another."

"Sounds stupid. Why?" Robin asked. Yes, he _was_ being difficult, but he was just in that kind of mood. Coitus interruptus will do that to some people.

"Hey, we're just the hired help here, I don't question my clients," Shield complained. "Anyway, it's over in your neck of the woods, it involves a pleasant walk in the beautiful country-side, and it won't take more than a week. Tops."

"That long of a walk, huh?" Robin asked. "And why a walk, anyway?"

"You _could_ skateboard… but you can't use anything that creates any form of electrical current, and that includes almost all forms of modern transportation. And it's not that long… about 62 miles. As the bird flies."

"Doesn't sound too bad… what's the catch?"

"There's a mountain-range in the way."

"Oh."

"And a desert."

"Really?"

"Not a _whole_ _real_ desert, though! Just a bit of wasteland… your goal is in the middle of it, will probably just take a day or so to cross."

"Right."

"Of course you can't bring any communication-devices, or even a compass…"

"Do I have to deal with any one-eyed bastards who insist on calling me 'princess'?" Robin asked.

"Errr… no? I wouldn't think so…?" Shield answered hesitantly.

"Perfect. I'll start packing."

_To be continued…_

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A/N: Well, that's a way to start the story, huh? Getting the two main characters as far away from each other as possible? Err… I might have screwed this up already… ;)

Anyway, I'm aware that Slade might seem a bit OOC in the beginning, in his somewhat hysteric mood, BUT his daughter was involved, and I'm going to let him be a little weird when it comes to Rose, okay? Oh, and Robin too, in some cases. His daughter has, after all, just recently came into his life again, and had the bad taste of hooking up with a bat… I'd be a concerned parent too… ;)

All the best, and please review!

See you next week!


	2. Knowing Me, Knowing You

**A/N: **Welcome to chapter two! I'm so happy that so many of you seems to like it so far, let's hope that continues after this chapter (WHERE EVERYBODY DIES!) No… just kidding… I'm just in an overly-dramatic mood… I don't think anyone dies in this chapter, actually… oh, damn, did I ruin it now? ;)

As usual (? It's only chapter two!) the lovely **Jayto** has beaten the shit out of this chapter, but I take full responsibility for any remaining mistakes… as I'm a evil writer who can't help but fiddle with chapters even after they come back from editing… Cookies for corrections!

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Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm

**Chapter 2: Knowing Me, Knowing You**

When Slade called the next day, it was too late.

"He's what?" the man said, thinking the goth-girl was trying to tell a joke.

"He's gone. He went on a mission last night. Will be back in a little over a week, he said," Raven explained patiently.

"Yeah, he was pretty pissed, dude!" Beast Boy smirked gleefully.

"He even left it to us to arrange the trip to Gotham. Said he would come back before then or meet us there," Cyborg filled in.

"You did a bad thing, Slade," Starfire said solemnly.

"He just needs a sense of humor…" Slade muttered.

"No one has _that_ kind of humor, man," Cyborg snorted. "You better find a really nice tux for the wedding, and be willing to do a lot of crawling and begging, or he'll never forgive you."

Slade snorted. A look and a touch or two, and it wouldn't be_ him_ on his knees.

"We'll see about that," Raven smirked smugly.

"Stay out of my head, witch," the mercenary growled.

"Just read your face, killer," the pale woman smirked.

Slade hung up.

The man glared at the wall of the horrible motel room he was renting for the night. His job was about to start, but he had a hard time focusing, especially now that Robin had gone AWOL all of a sudden. Had he screwed up _that _badly? The man snorted again. Yeah. He probably had. At the time he had really expected Robin to say something sarcastic and follow him into the shower to finish things off, but instead he had heard a door slam and that was it. It was all Bruce's fault.

Even Slade had to pause to think that one over for a moment, but then he nodded to himself. Yes. Calling, talking about weddings- _marrying HIS daughter_- of course that was the reason Robin was a bit… unbalanced… not his own fault at all. Slade shook his head. Maybe Raven had been right… maybe he should pick up some knee-pads…

He shrugged and stood up. He had a job to do, and the faster he did it, the faster he could go hunt his little bird down. Yes. Good plan. The man felt better.

* * *

Robin was bored out of his mind. He was sitting in a drab little office, in front of a drab little desk, where a drab little man… well… let's just say there was a theme going on. He had been lectured at for the last thirty minutes about things he already knew or had picked up on himself, without being told.

"The map, of course, has your planned route outlined, please try to follow it as precisely as you are able," the balding man paused and the look in his watery eyes told Robin that he didn't think the teen could even find his way out of this room.

Robin snorted softly to himself.

"Not a problem." He was wearing civilian clothes, fit for hiking. The dark khaki-colored pants were in a lightweight but tough material with multiple pockets. The legs had zippers so they could be transformed into shorts, and the knee-area was designed so they were easy to move, climb and stretch in. His usual belt had been exchanged, since it had built-in electrical circuits and trackers, for a more traditional one, but it still had pockets. It was actually one of Slade's, and it hung almost diagonal on Robin's hips, but it was practical. He had a simple t-shirt on for now, as it was warm, but he had a shirt and a light jacket packed as well. A pair of sunglasses covered the fact that he was wearing a mask, and Robin suspected he looked a bit like a hooligan, and this might be why the man didn't seem very happy with him. Robin had wanted to keep his identity quiet, if not completely hidden, for a very simple reason; he didn't want people to think that Robin of the Teen Titans was for hire as an errand-boy. He was doing his friend's a favor, nothing else.

"Yes, well… I'm sure," the man muttered to himself. "We have also marked the danger-zones, electrical cables, masts and roads with regular traffic. You are under no circumstance allowed anywhere near these areas. Also, once you start, you can't head back. As soon as you have left we will switch the electricity back on here at the compound, and if you try to get in again, the object will be destroyed. Now, you have to navigate without a compass, do you think you can manage that?"

"The maps are detailed enough, so yes," he answered shortly and a bit rudely. He didn't like this guy and the guy didn't like him. It was kind of nice not having to be the polite hero or millionaire's ward for once.

"Yes, well… we have tried to make the route follow paths and animal-tracks when we have been able to, but a few miles are complete wilderness. I don't have to tell you that if you meet another human, you have to keep your distance? A hundred meters or more, preferably. The case is designed to offer some protection, but it can't shield it from really strong electrical fields."

"Can't you just enclose it like a lead-container or something and drive it out of here?" Robin asked.

"Science today does not fully understand how electrical and magnetic fields, as well as other types of radiation, work and what they can penetrate. We could come up with a hypothesis, but this item is one of a kind and we can't afford to experiment with it," the man said with a distasteful look at Robin, like he was revolted by the fact that the teen in front of him even dared to question his authority.

"What if I meet a bear with a radio-tracker?" Robin smirked.

The man looked crestfallen.

"We… we haven't thought of that… we'll contact the wild-life organizations and government and see if any such trackers are used in the area. Good call, young man," the man added, though it obviously hurt him to do so.

Robin, who had been joking, shrugged.

"So, what_ is_ this sensitive little thing, then?" he asked.

"Top secret, I'm afraid. You are hired for the delivery only. Respect that. Please."

Robin resisted an urge to just walk out. And maybe punch the man. Just a little.

"Right," he said instead. "When will I be leaving?"

"In an hour. I'm sure that is enough time for us to get the new information we need. Someone will come and get you from the waiting area. Now, please check once more for any electronics. You don't have a battery-operated watch, do you?"

"No. Left it at home," Robin said and stood up, glad to be out of the man's thin hair. "I'll go wait outside, then?"

"Yes, please," the man nodded.

As he was leaving, Robin turned back in the door.

"An MP3-player is okay, right?"

* * *

Robin whistled as he took off from the compound. He had managed to cause the boring guy a small mental breakdown, it seemed, and he was quite pleased with himself.

_It's Slade and his bad influence…_ he thought, and frowned a bit before shrugging, adjusting the weight of his back-pack. It didn't matter. He was on Slade-vacation, which he needed if he was going to deal with the man during the wedding in two weeks.

He adjusted the straps once more. He had packed well, he thought, freeze-dried food which didn't weigh much, as well as a bivouac sack if it would rain or get really cold, instead of a tent. He also had a foam mat, rolled tightly and fastened to the bottom of the pack. He carried an emergency kit, naturally, a change of clothes, soap, toilet paper, water purification tablets, matches and a billycan; a lightweight cooking pot which could be used both on a camping stove and a fire. Robin had decided not to bring a stove, though, but rather build fires. He hadn't been allowed a flash-light, for obvious reasons, but had brought a few sturdy candles. A water flask hung on his hip. It was full now, but later in the day he would have to find water. Judging by the map and the topography, that wouldn't be much of a problem.

He held said map, the first of several he would have to use, firmly in one hand, and he made sure to trace every step he made on it, having a pen and a ruler ready to measure his progress. Hiking in unfamiliar territory without a clear road or a compass, was difficult, on the verge of foolish, but Robin liked the challenge. True, he hadn't done much hiking, but he had done a _lot_ of research. Well… about eight hours worth. It was just a matter of getting from point A to point B, how much trouble could that be?

The building where he had picked up the object, a small plastic-looking container the size of a box of matches, was almost at the base of the mountain, so Robin soon found himself on the first track he was to follow. The little black box weighed almost nothing, and was now safely tucked away in one of his belt-pockets. Robin started to relax more and more, the further up the path he got, and after half an hour he took off his mask. Now he was just another hiker, if he should happen to meet someone. He figured that a normal teenager running off would attract less attention than a masked one, doing the same thing.

The sun was shining, warm but not smoldering, the birds were chirping, there was a pleasant breeze, the air smelled fresh and sweet. Robin smiled. Life couldn't be better.

That's when someone landed on the path in front of him and punched him out.

* * *

Robin groaned quietly as he woke up, and found himself sprawled on his back on the ground with a shadow leaning over him. He looked up, narrowed his eyes and groaned louder.

"Nooo… Shield _promised_ me…"

"Glad to see you too, princess," Slade smirked.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?" Robin growled, glaring at the man. Slade was dressed in what looked like a combination of hunting- and military gear, but, Robin figured, he could easily be mistaken for a hiker as well.

"Robbing you," the man answered lightly.

"Oh, sure, you- _what_?" Robin sat up, his head spinning a bit.

"Feel lucky, I was supposed to _shoot_ and rob you," Slade told him. "Well, not _you_, exactly, but whoever came down this path."

"I'm glad you saw it was me, then."

"I didn't," Slade shrugged. "I decided not to shoot because the vision was poor, and I didn't want to harm the object I'm supposed to steal… pity… I'd bought a new rifle and everything." the man studied the teen on the ground for a moment. "You really think I would have knocked you out if I'd seen it was you?"

"I think I'm a bit insulted that you _didn't_ recognize me."

"I didn't even see you clearly until the strike was just about to hit. I only had time to make sure I didn't punch you full force."

"If _that _wasn't full force…." Robin muttered, touching his jaw. He climbed to his feet, ignoring the hand Slade stretched out to him. "Whatever," he muttered as he brushed himself off. "So… what now? Obviously I'm not going to let you rob me."

"Who says I haven't already?" Slade smirked.

Robin's hand flew to his belt-pocket , and it was only when the man's smirk widened that he realized what he had done.

"Fuck."

"Really nice to let me know where you were carrying it," Slade said smugly. "But what makes you think I'll rob you?"

"Oh, come _on_!" Robin snorted. "You might not intentionally hit me in the face, but steal something from me? You'll do that in a second, if you were paid for it."

"True. Want to hand it over?"

"No," Robin said and furtively studied the path ahead of him. There was no way he could outrun Slade, not with all the gear weighing him down. He wished he could go back, because if he would shrug off his packing and run like crazy down the hill, he might make it… but then the electrical field at the research-facility would fry the thing anyway.

"Are you sure?" Slade asked, looking at him like he was a nuisance.

"Pretty much, yes."

"Hmmm…"

"You are thinking of hitting me again, aren't you?" Robin's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You know me_ so _well, princess."

"Well, do that, and I'll never be your princess again!" Robin snorted, and then blushed as he realized what he said. "Besides, what are you going to do with it if you had managed to get it from me? You know you can't carry it anywhere close to civilization, don't you?"

"I do. I have been instructed to take the same route you were going to take. My employers are going to pick it up just a few miles before your drop-off spot."

Robin swore to himself.

"So it was an inside job, then? They gave you the same map I have? Damn traitors."

"Like us at the H.I.V.E, you mean?" Slade said dryly. "Yes, I wouldn't have known where to wait if that hadn't been the case, now would I?"

"Do you know what the thing is too?" Robin asked, curious this time. A shadow passed Slade's face, and Robin smirked. "You don't, do you?"

"They wouldn't tell me. I almost didn't take the job because of it."

"So, then why _did_ you?"

"I enjoy the outdoors… hunting… It's been a while."

"Why do I have a feeling you are not talking about deer?" Robin muttered. He then sighed. "Look, we are heading the same way. Let's just go, and you can decide how much I mean, or rather _fucking_ me, means to you later."

"All right, but I have to get my gear."

"Then do. You can catch up with me."

"I don't think I trust you not to try to slip away. Why don't you give me the object as security until I find you?" the man suggested innocently.

Robin just burst out laughing, shook his head and walked away.

* * *

Slade shrugged. He had left his things nearby, and he was soon caught up with Robin once more. The teen glanced at him.

"Didn't you have a rifle?"

"I left it. I never intended to drag that along on the hike anyway."

"Good. Then maybe you won't shoot me in the back, at least."

"I suppose a speech about business and pleasure and not to take things personally wouldn't do much good right now?" Slade asked as he fell in line behind the teen.

"No."

"See? I know you too," the man chuckled smugly. "Those pants look good on you, by the way."

"You can look, but you can't touch."

"You must be_ really_ pissed at me," Slade concluded.

"What makes you think_ that_?" the teen snorted back.

"Come on… is this because of the little… _pause_… after the phone call?"

"_That's_ what you'd call it?"

"You were _supposed_ to join me in the shower!"

"Yeah? Well, you weren't supposed to _leave_!" Robin clamped his teeth shut after the last sentence. He had sounded much too hurt, and he _wasn't._ He was just _angry_. Why would he care that Slade left? He sullenly stayed quiet for the next couple of hours, ignoring Slade's attempts at conversation and concentrated on the map instead.

* * *

Slade sighed in irritation. Robin had decided on the silent-treatment, it appeared, and it was the single most infuriating social war-tactic Slade knew. He hated it. Robin yelling at him, well, that could be almost amusing, but not speaking? Just walking ahead of him, displaying that pretty little ass so perfectly… it was torture! Not that he couldn't take a little torture, mind you; he was tougher than that… he just wished it was branding-irons involved and not swaying, slender hips.

* * *

"This is insane! We both know that you are going to forgive me sooner or later, so why not just get it over with?"

Robin looked back at Slade as the man spoke.

"Nope."

"What do you mean? I'm not going to allow you to leave me because of a joke," Slade growled.

Robin's eyes narrowed at the 'allow' part, but then he smiled.

"I'll forgive you Slade, of course I will."

"Good! Finally you come to your sense-"

"Not now, however. I hope you remember how to use your hand, because you will be doing that for a while."

The man snorted and muttered a curse under his breath.

"I should have just taken the item and disappeared before you woke up," he told the hero.

Robin looked back and nodded.

"Yes, that would have been so much better for you, why didn't you?"

"Leaving you on your own, all alone in the woods? In_ those_ pants?" Slade leered. "Never!"

"It didn't occur to you that I wanted to _be_ alone?" Robin growled.

* * *

Slade felt just slightly hurt by Robin's words, but had enough experience to know that they came from anger. The teen might have wanted some alone-time, but that didn't mean he never wanted Slade around ever again.

Nah, Slade figured, his princess was probably over the moon to see him, he was just hiding it rather well. He would make sure Robin warmed up to him soon enough, though, and, patting the teen's behind, as he stopped to consult the map once more, seemed like a good place to start.

* * *

"Slade," Robin sighed when he felt the man grope him. "I know you don't have your cell phone on you, but I'll bet you my ass isn't on your speed-dial."

"That's right. It's my screen-saver, though. Remember the other week when you fell asleep on top of the covers?"

"You didn't?" Robin gasped, but then seemed to remember something and shrugged. "Okay then."

"Wait… what do you mean 'okay'?" Slade asked suspiciously.

"Just… okay. It's fair."

"_What_ did you _do_?"

"Let's just say that my communicator has a camera too… and the video-recording function isn't bad either."

"Ahhh… you got yourself a little memento too? Something to drool over when I'm not there?"

"Something like that…" Robin said airily. "Or maybe I just found the way you sang 'I Feel Pretty' in the shower one night, hilarious," the teen smirked.

"I did_ not-_!" Slade stopped dead in his tracks, trying to remember. "Had I been drinking?"

"You were very _happy_, that's for sure," Robin smirked.

Slade groaned. He had, once or twice after returning from Gotham, gone out for a few drinks when Robin, for some reason, had decided to spend his evening rescuing the city. Sometimes the man also met clients at bars, or tried to gain some important information from one of the customers.

"Ah, well, whatever makes you smile," the man shrugged.

"If I had my communicator on me, you would have destroyed it by now, right?" Robin smirked.

"Without a doubt."

"Well. There are backups. And, I might add, the clip might appear on Youtube if you make a wrong move," Robin patted his belt-pocket to show the man what such a move might entail.

"I might threaten something similar," Slade muttered.

"You might. But you won't. Your right palm will develop calluses if you do," Robin grinned, and Slade could just glimpse his normal attitude underneath the teasing and irritation, making the man smile.

"I wouldn't want that…" he purred, giving the teen a very special look which made him blush.

"Look." Robin coughed. "Let's just focus on getting somewhere today, okay?"

"That's what I've been _trying_ to do." Slade chuckled.

"Yeah, but not into my pants, but rather on our _way_. We have quite a long walk to look forward to. Maybe you should just give up now?"

"I know more about surviving outdoors then you do, city-boy," Slade snorted.

"Yes, well… we'll see about that," Robin mumbled, knowing Slade was absolutely right. He was prepared, though. It would be enough, he was sure.

* * *

The silence, as they continued on, developed into the more comfortable kind. They frequently went over the maps together, picking out their route mile-by-mile.

"We should make camp soon, before it gets dark," Slade said by late afternoon. "We have a deep valley coming up, and I'd rather not cross that when the sun is setting. According to the map there are some rather steep cliffs there."

"Yeah, I agree. How about camping here?" Robin said and pointed to a place on the map half a mile along the way. "Looks to be a stream there and since it's rather high up, we might get a view of the valley."

"Ah. Romantic," Slade smirked.

"I meant so we could plan tomorrow's route better," Robin said, rolling his eyes.

"Of course you did," Slade nodded agreeably, though not convincingly.

Robin sighed. Not only did he have to keep Slade away from the object until he could deliver it safely, he also had to deal with the man's sense of romance… which never, of course, actually _included _any form of romance, if 'turn over, I want to fuck you from behind' didn't count.

They seemed to be stuck in some kind of exclusive fuck-buddies relationship. Slade had made it clear that he intended to stick around, but nothing else had been said.

Robin had once told Flame that he loved the man, and the admission had been… freeing. They had also admitted their feelings to each other. He remembered the words perfectly… They had been arguing about Flame, of all things, and Robin had said something along the line of that if Slade wasn't willing to step up to the plate he should let someone else do it.

"_Are you saying you love me?" Slade had asked. Robin had studied the man's face for any sign that he might be making fun of him, but there was none. The teen had then lowered his eyes, his hands softly falling away from the man's face._

"_Sometimes. Some days… Some moments… yes."_

"_Sounds like a fickle love to me…" Slade had smirked faintly._

"_But it's real…" Robin had answered in a whisper. "I wish you knew how it felt…"_

"_Sometimes. Some days… Some moments… I do."_

Afterwards the whole gruesome mess when Cyborg had been freed had happened, and everyone was in shock for a while... when they had returned to Jump, things more or less... cooled down.

_No, that's the wrong word,_ Robin decided. Things between Slade and him was just as hot as ever, but more on a physical level than an emotional one.

The time at the H.I.V.E had been... unique. They'd just had each other there, surrounded by potential enemies, playing a game and acting in their roles as Master and Apprentice. It had brought them, or rather, _forced_ them, closer. Maybe things had come to the surface, which wasn't supposed to?

Robin shook his head. No, he didn't regret his admission. Slade, however, was a man who had once claimed that men could never love each other romantically, and though, in a way, admitting that he was wrong, Slade didn't seem inclined to take things further, or deepen that first, weak admission any more.

Robin was fine with that. Really. Mostly. It was just confusing at times. He didn't want to demand things from the man he couldn't get, because he didn't want to lose him. He was happy with what Slade gave him, and, to be perfectly honest, he wasn't sure he could handle any more. If more feelings suddenly were involved, how would they both function in their day-to-day life? Slade was after the item, it was his job, and, if they were only 'friends with benefits' Robin could, grudgingly, accept that. But if they were to declare, openly, clearly and repeatedly, that they were in love? Wouldn't he have felt more betrayed then? The teen didn't know, and wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

* * *

"How about up there?" Slade suddenly said and pointed.

"Huh?" Robin looked up, startled out of his thoughts, and nearly tripped over a tree-root.

"The hill-side. For a camping ground. May I add that you are very agile and graceful? Like a new-born foal," Slade grinned at him.

"You have never complained about my agility before," Robin snorted, as he studied the site Slade had pointed out. It wasn't far from a small stream, a rather flat area half way up a steep hillside. It looked promising, both as a vantage point and a place to spend the night. "It looks okay," he admitted. "Let's go."

* * *

The steep climb, after a day of walking, had Robin panting just slightly as he reached the site. He was in excellent shape, but he had always trained for short burst of energy, making him more of a sprinter than a marathon-runner.

Robin dropped his gear on the ground and stretched.

"I have a feeling I'll be quite sore by the end of this trip," he said, more or less to himself.

"I'll make you sore by the end of tonight, if you want?" Slade offered.

"Shut up, Deathstroke," Robin muttered. "Can't I say _anything_ without you taking it the wrong way?"

"Speaking about _taking it the wrong way_…" Slade chuckled, earning himself a glare. "All right, I'll go look for firewood. Don't get eaten by a bear."

"You know you're the only bear I would want to eat m- oh, no! Now I'm doing it too!" Robin groaned. "Go find some wood. Shit. Just… go…"

* * *

The man chuckled as he walked away. This might be an entertaining couple of days, he thought. Of course he would have to piss Robin off by the end, because he had no intention of not completing his mission, but he was sure he could work around that somehow. It was, however, something he found surprisingly hard to justify.

Slade frowned to himself as he searched under the big trees for old, dry sticks and branches. Since getting involved with the hero he had tried to tell himself that it would be no problem combining work and pleasure, and it hadn't been, up until now.

He hadn't expected Robin to be the victim, and, even though the thing wasn't important to the teen personally, Slade knew he would defend it valiantly. Unsuccessfully, of course, but it didn't make Slade feel smug to think about.

The man shrugged. It couldn't be helped. It was business.

* * *

After piling their packing against a cliff-side, noting how much heavier Slade's backpack seemed to be, Robin carefully tested the water by smell and, finding that okay, taste. The stream seemed to come from the mountainside, perhaps a spring, and the fast-moving flow tasted fresher than any tap water ever could.

"Please tell me I didn't just see you drink that water," Slade said behind him.

"What?" Robin asked, turning around. "It's clear, and it smelled good, and it's running water…"

"And you might already be poisoned…" Slade filled in, dropping the pile of wood on the ground to go rummage through his back-pack.

"What are you talking about, the water's fresh! Everyone knows that running water is the freshest-"

"Then 'everyone' are idiots," Slade snorted. "How much did you have?"

"Just a small sip, to taste it," Robin answered. He was starting to get nervous about the way Slade acted, but tried to hide it behind irritation.

The man was busy sniffing the water and tasting a bit of it himself.

"You're probably going to be fine, just try not to be an idiot again, all right?"

"I _wasn't_! This is probably clean spring water, and you just tasted it yourself! Besides everyone knows you're not supposed to drink from still pools of water!"

"'Everyone' again, huh? If you ever meet those people, smack them on the head," Slade chuckled. "And I tasted it because with my healing-abilities, I'm relatively safe, at least from poisons." The man could see that the teen was on the verge of exploding and sighed. "Tell you what, fill a pot of water while I get the fire going, and then I'll give you a crash-course in not getting a serious case of the runs in the wilderness, all right?"

Robin was about to snarl something but caught himself in time. Clearly he needed to learn and Slade probably _did_ know what he was talking about, so…

"Kay… thanks…" he mumbled and ducked his head.

"That's my boy," Slade smirked.

* * *

Two pots, both Robin's and Slade's, were starting to boil half an hour later, and Robin added some freeze-dried soup to his, while Slade just pulled his one off the fire, rinsed their water-bottles with some of it, and left the rest to cool under a lid.

"Okay, water safety," Slade started. "There are several things to worry about. Protozoa bacteria and viruses, for example. Boiling the water takes care of them, but if the water is muddy, it will still be muddy after boiling, not so nice to drink, but relatively safe. Boiling doesn't help with_ chemicals_ in the water though, and in this day and age there can be practically anything in there. It's also rather bothersome, you need to drink a lot while walking, and you can't stop to boil water every now and then."

"Well, I have water purification tablets," Robin said, trying to prove he wasn't completely at a loss.

"Good," Slade nodded. "Those are okay, but I recommend one of these."

The man reached into his bag and extracted something looking like a large plastic bottle with a handle and a few hoses connected to it. "This is a hand-pump filter," Slade explained. "It gets rid of sediments and most bacteria and chemicals. After using this, the water is pretty safe to drink."

"What about viruses? And that thing about not collecting running water?" Robin asked. He was becoming a bit fascinated, despite himself.

"Viruses are too small to stick in the filter, but here in North America those are a smaller problem, especially in less-traveled areas like these. Down south of the border, though, you have to look out… there's the dreaded 'Montezuma's Revenge' for example. Not nice. If you want to be sure, add a few drops of this, it's a chlorine-based purifier," Slade said and showed him a small bottle. "It makes the water taste like something of a swimming-pool, but it's a small price to pay, perhaps, considering the alternative."

Robin made a face but nodded. He wasn't sure he had brought enough toilet paper for something like _that _to happen. "Now, about still and running water, if possible, try to collect water from clear pools. A lot of micro-organisms sink to the bottom in still water, but, in running water, they never have a chance to do that, and you might actually end up drinking _more_ nasty things from a deceivingly clear babbling brook than from a pond."

"Oh," Robin said, feeling slightly silly.

"Don't beat yourself up… after all, it's 'everyone's' fault, right?" Slade smirked. "Besides, we're violating a wilderness rule as we speak: we are cooking next to the area where we intend to sleep."

"Oh? And that's bad why?" Robin asked.

"It can attract some pesky things… like rodents, badgers, raccoons… and bears."

"Were you serious before? There are bears here?" Robin's eyes widened.

"Black bears, if any. I couldn't find any reports on sightings, but, as we know, there are not many people around… it really poses a philosophical question…"

"What?" Robin snorted, not knowing Slade to be much of a philosopher.

"If there's a bear in the forest, and no one is around to see it, is it really there?" Slade smirked.

"Ha-ha, very funny," Robin said and glanced around, thankful for the view. "If a bear would climb up here, it would probably come from that direction, right?" Robin pointed the way they had come themselves.

"Yes, probably. Why?" Slade asked.

"Oh, nothing, it's just that I'm going to make sure you sleep between me and that path, that's all," Robin grinned.

"Don't be afraid, princess, I'll defend you," Slade chuckled. "That is, if you plan to show me some proper gratitude afterwards."

"Sure. Save me from a bear, and I'll do whatever you want," the teen laughed, and then narrowed his eyes. "Hey… I know that look… you were actually thinking about going out there and try to track one down, weren't you?"

"Just as a back-up plan if my natural charm fails me," Slade smirked.

"You might want to start stuffing your pockets with raw meat and peanut-butter, then," Robin suggested sweetly.

_To be continued…_

* * *

A/N: you know how much I like cliffhangers, so ENJOY this calm ending! I'm just saying… ;)

Oh, and I'm working on a freestanding one-shot which I will ONLY publish in the "WynjasTinyDucklings"-group on Deviant art for my lovely ducklings! Check my bio for the link, and become a quack! … well… you know what I mean… ;)


	3. Mamma Mia!

**A/N: **Observant readers should be able to detect a certain theme to the chapter-titles now. I'm only doing it to annoy. ;)

I must tip my hat (damn, now I have to get a hat!) to **DeathGoddess18 **who in a review mentioned that glow sticks were a great light source! I just went "D'oh!" when I read it… she, delicately, said that maybe Slade carried them (I had Robin carry CANDLES…-snorts at own stupidity-) but the fact is: I had no idea about glow-sticks! I need to learn more about military equipment and stuff… Sooo… probably no glow sticks in this story, but I LOVE to hear more tips like this, because next time I take them camping they will SO have them! Thank you!

Also thank you to **RoseWild **who, in an anonymous review, pointed out that running water IS better than standing water to drink and gave good reasons for this. First, none of you EVER have to feel that you have to be anonymous just because you are going to point out that I'm wrong, but you already know that, right? ;) Secondly: I got the still/running water info from a large North American hiking info-site, which I chose to trust… it might not be true, or ALWAYS be true, but I chose to use that info because I have no idea what the water-quality is generally like in the US… Robin or Slade won't drink ANY water without purifying it first anyway, and will take it from both still and running sources… Just please, don't go out camping or doing ANYTHING with my stories as a guide, and you will be safe… ;)

Thank you to my beta-muse **Jayto** for being patent with me!

**

* * *

**

Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm

**Chapter 3: Mamma Mia!**

They ate in amiable silence; Robin was amazed about how hungry he was. He was glad that Slade had surprised him with both bread and fruit to compliment the soup.

"Aren't these things kinda stupid to drag along? It's not like they will keep, and it will just get mushy," Robin said.

"It's not like I packed a week's supply of fruit, just for the first day," Slade shrugged. "Are you complaining?"

"What? No, just asking!" Robin hurriedly finished the pear he was eating. "So you brought a lot of stuff?"

"I brought what I'll need," Slade said. "As did you, I hope?"

"Yeah, but… well… with your healing-abilities and stuff… _do _you really need all this?"

"No..." the man shrugged. "I could easily survive with almost no food or water, and barely any sleep, but why would I? Even though I wouldn't _die_, I _would_ be uncomfortable, and who wants that?"

"Ah, that's right. You're a softie," Robin grinned teasingly.

"Careful there, or I won't tell you to wash your feet."

"Err… Slade? Not much of a threat…" Robin said, a bit puzzled.

"Tell me that in four days without proper foot care," Slade smirked. "I'm going to have to carry you in the end."

"Nope, 'cause I have it all under control. I've read _all_ about keeping yourself and especially your feet, clean and dry, and I have several pairs of socks with me, so in your face!" Robin snorted.

"Your socks in my face? No thank you. I'm not _that_ kinky," Slade chuckled. "Speaking about faces, how's yours?"

Robin touched the side of his face. The sunglasses he had been wearing had absorbed some of the punch, and he was glad that he had brought his specially made ones, that could withstand almost anything, because a pair picked up at some gas station would have shattered and done even more harm. As it was, the glasses seemed to have left marks across the bridge of his nose and on his left cheek, where he was swollen from the punch, but…

"It's not too bad, actually…" he said, somewhat surprised.

"I told you I held back," the man said smugly. "Very well, let's get cleaned up before the sun settles."

* * *

Robin shivered slightly as he stood in the cold stream, but Slade was stark naked and washing up like the water was as hot as in a shower, and the teen didn't want to look like a wimp.

"Want me to warm you up there, princess?" Slade grinned as Robin's teeth clattered slightly.

"Oh, shut up and let me wash before I turn into a woman here…" Robin muttered.

Slade barked out a laugh, and, very childishly Robin thought, he then splashed him. The teen's pride couldn't let the man get away with that, of course, and soon there was a full-out water-war going on.

* * *

"Well," Slade said later as they were drying in front of the fire, "if there _were_ any bears in the area, we most likely scared them off."

"Yes, your girl-screams probably did the trick," Robin grinned.

"Watch it, or I'll zip our sleeping bags together," Slade smirked.

Robin smiled, suddenly thinking that sounded like a really good idea, but then he reminded himself that he was supposed to be angry with the man. He _was_ angry. It was just so damn difficult to remember _why_ when Slade was two inches away and naked.

"Forget it, old man. Speaking about sleeping-bags, you don't happen to have a fully equipped caravan in your back-pack do you?"

"Nope. Didn't even bring a tent. See? I'm roughing it," Slade grinned.

"I brought a bivouac sack in case of rain," Robin told him.

"I just brought some tarp," Slade admitted. "The weather should be clear, though."

"Yeah, that's what I heard. But you never know in the mountains…" Robin shrugged and looked over at the horizon where the sun was just starting to set. "It's quite beautiful out here, isn't it?"

"In a postcard kind of way," Slade-the-romantic shrugged. He also seemed to be thinking about the fact that Robin was supposed to be pissed at him, because he glanced over at the young man. "So you have definitely decided to talk to me again?"

"Yes. _Talk_." Robin nodded. "Not in the mood for much else, though," he smirked. "But talking is good… about what you are doing here, for example."

* * *

Slade glanced at his young lover again and smirked

"I took the mission to get away."

"W-what?" Robin turned to look at him, and the hurt in his eyes sent a stab of pain through Slade's chest as well.

"Not from _you_, idiot," the man snorted. "I just needed to get away and think about things. Again, very poor timing, I apologize… I'm out of a time-machine at a moment, though, so I can't very well do anything about that."

"That's a nice way of saying 'suck it up'," Robin muttered, but he didn't look hurt any more, merely guarded. "So… what did you need to think about?"

"If we are having a guy-moment here, let's at least get dressed… you're distracting me," Slade smirked.

"Might turn into a _gay_-moment…" Robin chuckled. "Alright, where are my clothes?"

"I have an extra t-shirt if you want to sleep in that?" Slade offered.

"Yeah, thanks… I'll hang our clothes up to air out, okay?" Robin said and only grabbed a fresh pair of boxers. He had already rinsed out his and Slade's socks and underwear and hanged them to dry, something which reminded him of trying to do the laundry back in Slade's cave. He had thought _that_ was living simple…

* * *

With not much else to do, they rolled out their mats and sleeping bags. Slade chuckled when he noticed that the teen actually _did_ place his furthest from the slope.

"Err…" Robin said as they put everything together. "I… need to take a leak."

"The world is your bathroom," Slade shrugged and gestured down towards the woods.

"Um… yeah… but…"

"What? You need to 'dig a hole' too?"

"Oh? So _that's_ how you do it?" Robin seemed to relax and then looked troubled again.

"You didn't bring a trowel?"

"I brought toilet-paper!" Robin objected, getting a bit red in the face.

"You figured you would find conveniently placed bathrooms along the way, then?"

"No! I just… didn't think about the digging-part," Robin muttered.

"You don't _have_ to dig…" Slade shrugged. "We don't have to carry out our trash either, we can just scatter it around the trail, but that's just not the way it's done."

"God, if you could only have these morals when it comes to choosing your jobs too…" Robin sighed, and took the small, lightweight but sturdy plastic trowel Slade handed him.

"Wouldn't make a living then, would I?" Slade smirked. "There, you're all set."

"Yeah, just…" Robin shuffled his feet.

"Don't tell me you want me to come _with _you?" Slade snorted. "The water really _was _cold, wasn't it?"

"Oh, go to hell," Robin muttered and spun around, heading down towards the trees. "Just hang around for a bit longer in case I scream 'bear'."

"Of course I will… I remember your promise…" Slade smirked.

* * *

Half an hour later, part of it having been spent being just a bit embarrassed and uncomfortable, Robin was back and stretched out on his sleeping-bag. The warm day had turned into a warm night, with just enough of a breeze to keep any mosquitoes away.

"Okay, so spill," the teen mumbled to his partner, who was laying next to him in a similar fashion.

"What? Oh, my reason for coming here…" Slade said, and took a deep breath. "I just needed to get away and think."

"About what?"

"Rose. Her future. Mine. Yours. Ours." Robin smiled at the last word, and then Slade continued. "I'm only her father because she_ lets_ me, you know."

"What do you mean?" Robin asked carefully. Slade seldom opened up to him like this, and he didn't want to mess it up by saying something stupid.

"As you know, I didn't even know she existed until she was a teen... I was never what you would call a father-figure to her, but as she became an adult she seemed to… accept me as one…" the man sounded rather amazed by this fact.

"You would have been there if you'd known and she knows that too," Robin said quietly. "And you'll be one hell of a grandfather one day."

"That scares me."

"What?" Robin gaped. "Are you afraid they'll make you change the diapers or something?"

Slade chuckled darkly.

"No… although that would be horrible as well."

"So… what?"

"Maybe we should just go to sleep?" Slade suggested briskly.

"No. Slade, please tell me?" Robin rolled over onto his side and propped himself up on an elbow.

"It's too depressing," the man smiled up at him.

"Just tell me… I promise I'll find a silver lining," Robin smiled encouragingly, secretly very worried. Something too dark for even _Slade_ to talk about had to be pretty heavy.

"All right. Say they have a child. I'll watch the kid grow up, my daughter grow old, and eventually die. My grandchild will have a family and then I'll have to watch it all repeat itself again… I've been alone for a long time, Robin, trying to_ avoid_ this… having a family, for me, means _losing _them… all of them…" the man's fingers touched Robin's cheek. "Find a silver lining in that, why don't you?" he added, with a strangled chuckle.

Robin was quiet for a moment.

"Pity-sex?" he suggested.

Slade's laugh roused some nesting birds nearby, who sounded very annoyed at their new, noisy neighbors.

* * *

"I understand how it must feel…" Robin said a few minutes later, as Slade had finished chuckling and he had had some time to process it all. "But, come on, they will give you enough good memories to make up for it in the end, don't you think?"

"They probably will… at least my first grand-child… Bruce will have no idea what hit him…"

"No buying the kid real little guns or anything like that!" Robin warned him.

"What? And no C4-modeling clay?"

"No."

"I _was_ going to teach him or her how to set it up!" Slade objected, like that somehow made it better.

"No blowing up or killing things in front of the kid."

"I see. You are going to be the boring, responsible half-brother, aren't you?" Slade smirked.

"Oh, please don't bring up the relationships, it makes my head hurt. Rose will be like my step-mum, which makes you my maternal grandfather."

"Oh. Naughty. But since we are… well, _together_, it also makes you Rose's mother."

"_Dad_."

"No, _I'm_ her dad," Slade deadpanned.

"You're her _father_, _I'll _be her da- wait! What the hell are we _talking _about? We should just shut up before this gets too weird. Besides. We're not _together_, really… I mean we've never _said_…" Robin knew he was pushing it just a little bit, but he couldn't help it. It wasn't like he demanded the man to get down on one knee; he just needed to get_ some_ kind of reassurance.

"No, but try to get together with someone else, and see what happens," Slade smirked.

"Likewise," Robin smirked back. Well. That was not too bad.

"Trail-mix?" Slade offered Robin a bag to seal the deal.

It was the teen's turn to laugh, again disturbing the poor birds.

"Tell you what…" Robin said with his mouth full, "I promise to kick you out by the time I'm thirty so you can go look for some fresh meat, okay?"

"Can we make it twenty-five? You're already looking a bit worn…" Slade leered and his partner punched his arm.

"That's it; I'll take back the offer for pity-sex," Robin muttered. "Not that I was gonna give it to you anyway…"

"Then I'll take back the trail-mix," Slade countered.

"Oh damn, and it had M&M´s in it and everything!" the teen pouted.

"I'm evil," the man shrugged, making Robin chuckle and move around so his head rested on the man's chest.

"Now you're a pillow," he grinned. "Oh, wow… look at the stars!" he added. As they had been talking, the darkness had fallen and the fire had almost died down. This far away from the light-pollution of the cities, the summer sky really came alive.

"Did you know you can only see about two-and-a-half thousand stars with the naked eye?" Slade asked.

"No… that's weird, it looks like millions," Robin frowned.

"I dare you to count them…" the man chuckled. "Although if you added all the stars you could see from both the northern _and_ southern hemisphere the total would be around six thousand."

"Still seems like so few," Robin muttered. "One, two, three…"

Slade smiled to himself as Robin fell asleep around two-hundred.

* * *

The young hero woke up to his two favorite smells; Slade, from the t-shirt he was wearing, and coffee, from…

_Wait? Coffee? I know Starbucks are everywhere, but this is ridiculous_… Robin thought to himself as he yawned and sat up. Slade must have tucked him into his sleeping-bag, because Robin didn't remember crawling into it.

"Good morning," the man said from where he was busy going through their packing.

"Morning. Thanks for tucking me in," Robin grinned.

Slade snorted, clearly not willing to admit to having done anything of the sort.

As Robin dressed he made sure he still had the item, and, as the man turned away, he switched it to a trouser-pocket instead. This made him feel a little safer, although Slade would of course find it there as well.

He toyed with the thought of leaving it hidden somewhere along the trail, mark the spot and have his employees get it themselves. It would delay them, but it would surely be better than losing the thing. He decided to keep the idea in mind, but he didn't need to do anything for a few days, and that might be enough time for Slade to come to his senses.

"Why are you looking so smug this early in the morning?" the man called out to him.

"Oh, nothing, I've just realized that I will win this," Robin grinned.

"Are we competing?"

"Always."

"Well… would be a first win for you, then…" the man smirked.

"Oh, give me some coffee or die," Robin muttered.

"You are always this grumpy in the morning if you haven't gotten laid in the last twelve hours," Slade grinned.

"Die it is then?" the teen asked hopefully. "Because that would solve a few of my problems at once."

"Yes, but you would still be grumpy," the man concluded. The packet of instant coffee then got ripped out of his hands.

* * *

They broke camp early and headed down into the valley, which turned out to be as steep as a ravine in some places. The air was already warm, promising a hot day.

Robin kept touching his face carefully. It was tender as hell, but he had been through worse… almost on a weekly basis, in fact.

"Is my face swollen?" he asked.

"Does the princess want a mirror?" his companion smirked.

"Does the bastard want a kick in the nuts?" the teen asked back sweetly.

"Not so much, no," Slade admitted. "And you are as pretty as ever. Let me prove it to by ravishing you against a tree." the man gestured to their surroundings in general, as if to say that any tree might do.

"Robin to Slade; you have hit a dry-spell. Take it like a man."

"I'd like to take _you_ like a-"

"You are beginning to sound desperate… it's rather sad," Robin smirked.

Slade glared at him and they continued walking in silence for a while, a silence only broken up by an occasional snicker or two from Robin.

* * *

"According to the map we need to cross it around here somewhere," Slade said as they stopped half an hour later.

Robin looked down towards the valley floor far below, a doubtful expression in his eyes.

"It's damn steep," he muttered.

"Yes, don't fall," his lover suggested.

"Wouldn't I be easier to rob with a broken leg?" the teen snorted.

"Yes, but only a bit," Slade smirked. "But I wouldn't want you to land on the item and destroy it now, would I? Maybe I should carry it down?"

"Please stop insulting my intelligence," Robin rolled his eyes.

"But it's so much fun!" the man objected. "Oh, very well. Enough resting, let's go."

* * *

They followed an animal-path which wound itself downwards like a serpentine road. The gravel was slippery and the earth loose, and Robin started to wonder if a sheer cliff wouldn't have been easier to climb down. At least it wouldn't have pebbles which kept rolling out from under his feet.

"Baaa!" he then bleated.

"Excuse me?" Slade said, turning around so fast that he almost tripped.

"Well, you've got to be a goat to get down this path, I'm only trying to get in the right frame of mind," the teen deadpanned.

"You are trying to kill me, that's what you are," Slade snorted and shook his head.

"Pffft, it's not like you wo-" Robin suddenly stopped himself.

"What did you just realize?" Slade asked suspiciously, stopping again.

"Nothing!" the hero claimed. "Just that… you know… pushing you down this slope _wouldn't_ kill you…"

"That's it, we're switching places," the man said and gestured ahead of himself. "Go on."

"Oh, don't be paranoid, Slade. I'm not the evil one; you are," Robin smirked, happy in the knowledge that he might have rattled the man a little.

"Yes, and I can't see your ass like this," the mercenary claimed and insisted on Robin taking the lead.

"What's the use pining for something you can't have?" the teen snorted as he passed him.

"Stop saying that, you will just look silly afterwards," the man warned him with a chuckle.

"I'm serious. I'm not going to give you _anything _as long as you're planning to steal this," Robin said and patted a pocket. He had intentionally chosen an empty one, however. He wasn't _that _stupid. Not twice.

"And I keep telling you to separate business and pleasure!" Slade growled. "Just let me have that thing, it doesn't mean anything to you."

"Well, it doesn't mean anything to _you_ either," Robin pointed out.

"It means that I have done my job."

"Ditto."

"The difference here is; _I_ never fail."

Robin whirled around on the narrow path, something rather foolish, perhaps, but still.

"Oh, you just did, Slade. You just failed_ big_ time," he snarled and turned around again, half walking, half climbing faster than ever.

"Failed what?" the man snorted, apparently unable to get a hint.

"With _me_," the teen hissed over his shoulder.

* * *

They continued in silence until they were almost at the bottom. A pebble hitting his neck and a strange sound, made Robin look up. He cried out and flung himself backward, pushing Slade back as well, and they both narrowly missed being swiped away by gravel and large boulders which were crashing down into the valley below.

They stayed frozen to the spot for a moment, tense and ready to get out of the way if there was another earth-slide but the river of earth slowly died away to a trickle of sand and dust, and then nothing.

"You can't be _that_ angry with me; you just saved my life," were the first words out of Slade's mouth as the noise died away.

"I saved my _own_ life, I saved _you_ from some bruises, at the most," Robin snorted and glared at the place the path had once been.

"Still grateful here," Slade shrugged.

"Still don't care here," Robin sang back childishly.

The man made a huffing noise which Robin knew meant that Slade thought he was being silly. Robin ignored him, mainly because he knew he was.

The thing was that he didn't really expect Slade to just give up and let him 'win' this one. He _knew_ the man wouldn't. He had spent too much time with him to know that Slade's 'work-ethics', such as they were, meant a great deal to him. He was a little hurt that the bastard didn't seem to even understand the problem, but he wasn't surprised. He could win, though. Either by outsmarting the man, outrunning him or simply just _earning_ the right to victory. He had one advantage over all of Slade's past adversaries: Slade wouldn't kill him. Robin was pretty sure of_ that_.

"So, how are we going to get down?" the man asked behind him.

Robin looked at the now settled slide in front of him. The path might be gone, but they were almost down, and the sides weren't as steep here.

"I don't know how you are going to do it…" he said. "But I'm gonna do this," he added and then jumped.

* * *

His feet hit the ground at a perfect angle, and Robin crouched, one foot far in front of the other, as he sideways slid down the valley-side. There were rocks and boulders in the way, but Robin, jumped or flipped over them with ease, ending up having a blast. As he finally hit more level ground, he continued out of the way from another small earth-slide created by Slade, who was following him. Robin tried not to feel smug about the fact that the man was _slightly_ less graceful.

* * *

"Are you crazy, you could have started another land-slide!" Slade growled as he practically stomped towards his young, idiotic, foolhardy moron of a lover.

"Looks safe enough now," the insolent teen shrugged, making the man's temper snap. Slade had just watched Robin literally throw himself into mortal danger, for _no_ reason at all, and he was not happy about it. He grabbed the hair on the back of the teen's head and pulled back, to make sure Robin met his eye.

"Don't. Do. That. Again."

The way the teen's eyes widened and lips parted in surprise, maybe touched by a little bit of fear, made Slade bend down and kiss him roughly. If it was to soothe the teen or assert his dominance over him, Slade didn't even know himself, nor did he care. He just did what he wanted to do, something which had been second nature to him before he happened to step onboard a certain ship.

"O-okay," Robin just stuttered as he let the teen go. Slade nodded. Good enough.

"Come. We'll follow the valley for now. There's a lake a few miles ahead. We'll rest there and then we need to climb up the other side before dark." He started walking without looking back, but by the sound of the gravel, Robin had followed almost immediately.

_

* * *

_

Okay? OKAY?

Robin wanted to hit himself, or maybe Slade, with one of the boulders on the ground. _And now I'm following him like a puppy?_ The thought was scary and insulting at best… but it was true. He watched Slade, how the man studied the surrounding sides of the valley with a frown on his face, but only followed him quietly, not commenting or asking questions. It might have been a stupid move, sliding down the hillside like that, but it wasn't like he would have done it if he had been alone! Slade was here, after all… besides, the man had practically _pushed_ him… in a way…

_It's not like I expect him to save me…_ Robin told himself_. I can take care of myself! I'm just so damn USED to him! _

Robin sighed. They were following a mostly dried out river-bed which, he assumed, fed the lake up ahead during the spring and autumn flood. As of now there was just a trickle in the middle, and the teen started to wonder if the lake had dried up too.

He tried thinking about other things, like how nice it was to walk on a somewhat level surface where you didn't have to be afraid of slipping with every step. That diversion worked for a minute or so, and then his thoughts went back to Slade. The man had just kicked an old dead tree log out of the way. The teen didn't know if it was to clear the path, so Robin wouldn't have to climb over it, which would mean that Slade was being chivalrous, or, it might mean that he was doing it to blow off steam, and in that case he was still pissed. Or he might have just kicked it out of the way for no reason at all… or for himself…

Robin felt a headache coming on. He should know better by now than to try to figure Slade out. The man was his lover, but in many aspects he was still a stranger. They had grown close, and Robin had to admit that it gave him a thrill, sometimes, to lay beside the man and know that he had a claim to him, of sorts. He had, in a way, tamed the beast. He could reach out and do things, like, perhaps, kiss the man's nose or tickle him, and he wouldn't, actually, get _killed_. He would get a weird look, and, if Slade was in that particular mood, some sort of horribly sexy punishment, but no more. He could even do any of those things right _now_, and not get in trouble. Even if Slade was angry with him, he wouldn't hurt him, but still…. still… Robin _thought_ he was sure of this, _wanted_ to be sure, but… somewhere deep inside him, a little voice told him to be careful. The tiger might appear tame… but it could all be pretend.

The thought of seeing Slade as something _other_ than a lover seemed strange to him now… maybe, _maybe_ he could imagine him to be just a platonic associate, but things might turn out worse than that… what if, one day soon, he had to consider him an enemy again? A mortal danger? Robin's stomach clenched at the notion; he didn't even want to imagine it.

"Ouff!" Robin had been so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed that Slade had stopped, and walked right into him.

"I'm so glad I'm with you, or you would have walked of _another_ cliff by now," Slade muttered.

"I was just thinking!"

"That's a first."

"Hey, shut up! Okay, so I took a risk! It worked out, it was even fun, so where's the bad?"

"Where's the bad? Where's the grammar?" Slade snorted.

"Oh, now you're just picking at any-" Robin suddenly stopped talking and stared at the man.

"What?" Slade muttered sullenly.

"Oh, god… I think it's _my _turn to claim that you're cranky 'cause you haven't gotten laid…" Robin broke out in a grin.

Slade burst out laughing, even though it sounded a bit forced in Robin's ears.

"Dream on, little bird… but through yourself you know others, I suppose…" he smirked.

Robin just snorted and ignored the man, looking ahead instead.

"Oh, we're here," he said, spotting the lake. It was narrow and seemed deep; a rift in the valley floor which had filled with water.

"Hence me stopping," his, perhaps, frustrated companion said dryly. "Would you like to be on water- or clothes-duty?"

"What's clothes-duty?" Robin asked carefully.

"Well, we look like we have been actually _rolling _down the hillside…" Slade pointed out.

They did, Robin had to admit; they were covered in dust.

"But… we can't wash them, they won't dry in time… you are not planning on making this a nude walk, are you?" he added suspiciously.

"What a lovely idea. But no, I was thinking of getting them as clean as possible by airing them out and perhaps beating the dust off."

"Well, I'm good at beating things up…" Robin grinned. "I'll do that one."

"Then I'll refill our water-bottles and get lunch started," Slade nodded and started to undress. Soon he was down to his underwear and handed the pile of clothes to Robin. "Go ahead. And hurry up, we are only stopping for two hours at the most."

"Yes, _Sir_!" the teen saluted the man with a smirk and started to undress as well.

* * *

Some twenty minutes later Robin was really regretting clothes-duty. It had been warm and sweaty _without_ working to get all their things somewhat clean again. There was vegetation here, shrubs, trees and grass lined the shore of the lake, and the air didn't feel quite as dry. He was using a few willow-branches as a simple carpet beater, but got the feeling that the dust just sneaked straight back in again. Slade was right that they should try, though, because the teen could just imagine what the dust must feel against sweaty skin. Well. He didn't _have _to imagine. It itched like hell.

After a few more minutes the clothes were as clean as they would get, and Robin was about the opposite. Slade seemed to be busy by a small fire and the teen hung their clothes up on some branches to, hopefully, air out some more.

"Lunch is ready in ten," Slade told him. "Noodles."

"Lovely. Hey, Slade, is there anything dangerous in that lake?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, I don't know… meat eating bacteria, giant pikes, poisonous ducks, crocodiles… whatever!" Robin tried to clarify.

"Crocodiles? Here? Wait, did you say poisonous _ducks_?" Slade looked like he thought the teen had been out in the sun for too long.

"I'm _kidding_, alright?" Robin snorted "I just want to know if anything in that water will try to eat me, lay eggs in me or just be generally nasty."

"You should be pretty safe," the man shrugged.

"Great. Bath, here I come!" Robin grinned and stripped completely. He ran the few short steps to the water-edge and dipped his toe.

"It's warm! Well, warmer than that ice-stream from yesterday…" he added and waded out. The water got deeper quickly and soon he swam a few strokes, dove under and came up to the surface again, grinning.

"There might always be leeches…" Slade said thoughtfully from the beach.

"I hate you," Robin growled.

"Sure you do." Slade answered and Robin got a sense of déjà-vu before remembering something; they had had almost this exact conversation back on the pirate's island. He couldn't help but smile at the memory.

* * *

There weren't any leeches in the lake, at least not any hungry ones, and Slade soon joined him for a short swim as the noodles boiled. They ate naked, while drying in the sun, and then Robin stretched out on a soft patch of grass to rest for a while.

"Hey, hiking nude might not be a bad idea…" he mumbled. It was so warm in the sun and he wouldn't mind just sunbathing the whole day if he had had that choice.

"If I can't have that ass of yours you better cover it up. Just a warning," Slade said from above him. Robin opened his eyes to see the man dressed and packed. "Get up. Time to go."

"You know, Slade, I'm perfectly capable of reading a map and planning a route. You make it sound like I would never get there on time if it weren't for you," Robin growled as he pulled his pants on. He had zipped off the legs now, because of the heat, and packed everything else except for his t-shirt.

"I apologize. You are not completely incompetent, and you look damn good wet and naked," Slade let him know.

"Excuse me?" Robin spluttered. "What does that got to do with anything?"

"Well, it makes me hang around… in the hopes of seeing more," Slade smirked. "And therefore you won't be late."

Robin just stared at the man, trying to get him to look at least a _bit _embarrassed, but no.

"I have no idea why I put up with you sometimes…" he groaned and shook his head. "Come on, then. Let's climb a cliff."

The rise on the other side was rockier than the other, but also steeper. Slade had a rope, but they didn't bother to use it. When you were used to climbing vertical buildings, rocks were easy. It still took a while, especially since they were climbing with packing, and the sun was behind them, beating down on their backs.

Robin reached the top first and reached out a hand to Slade, who took it with a grunt.

"If the drop hadn't been so uneven, we could have used the rope to drag the packing up," he muttered.

"Yes well, we're up, backpacks and all," Robin grinned. "Now we just have the forest to worry about for a while."

He was wrong.

_TBC_

* * *

A/N: Sorry if some parts of this are a little dry, like with all the camping-info (Slade loves to give lessons). I'm just not a writer who's happy unless the situation feels a little bit accurate, so, even though it would be one hell of a lot easier to have them just drinking any water and never get dirty and having Big-Macs for dinner, it's not gonna happen, BUT the descriptions won't be as frequent further on, as I kinda expect you to figure out that yes, they HAVE cleaned the water before drinking it and stuff… ;) And I'm not much of a camper and I've never been to North America, so everything is based on online research… so keep letting me know if anything seems strange… like if giraffes walk by…

And, yes, didn't I tell you about the cliffies? Although this is not a bad one… there will be worse. Much worse. –laughs in an insanely evil way and runs off-


	4. I Have a Dream

A/N: ah, I'm in a bit of a slump… but luckily for you this chapter was written a rather long time ago, so… ;)

Thank you Jayto for putting up with my mindless rambles… oh, and your beta-ing! ;)

**

* * *

**

Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm

**Chapter 4: I Have a Dream**

It became dark early among the trees, and Robin found that he was a little bit glad for the company after all. The darkness was almost thick enough to touch, only kept somewhat at bay by the dying embers of their camp fire. Robin closed his eyes, listening to all the sounds of the forest, twitching every time something tickled his skin. He _was_ a city-boy after all, and sleeping on the ground, with god-knew-what able to crawl all over him, was not something he was going to do for fun in the future. He shuffled closer to Slade's sleeping-bag.

"Did you hear a bear?" the man mumbled, amusement evident in his voice.

"No, it's just that your amazing survival skills has us camping in the middle of an ant-hill," Robin muttered.

"Want me to hold you and make you feel better?" the man offered, somewhat hopefully.

"Tell me that you quit the mission and you can," Robin answered back calmly.

"Blackmailer," the man snorted.

"Rather blackmail than blue balls."

Slade chuckled at this.

"Goodnight, Princess."

"Goodnight, impossible bastard," Robin mumbled with a little sigh.

* * *

The back of the man's head exploded, spraying the wall behind him with blood and brain matter. Robin looked down at the gun in his hand. No. Not again. Suddenly the narrow hallway changed and widened, until it turned into an enormous circular room, with the teen standing in the middle. The floor, every inch of it around him, was covered with dead or dying people. Everything from complete bodies to chunks of meat were piled around him. Glassy eyes stared at him, in fear, in accusation, in hate. Some of them moved, tried to get closer, or to get away. He raised his gun again.

"Robin! Wake up!"

The teen sat up with a start, fighting the constricting sleeping-bag in panic.

"Easy… easy… it was just a dream … I'm here…"

The teen turned towards the voice and clung to the man speaking, still not completely lucid.

"I… I killed them…"

"Yes, Robin." the voice was firm, not patronizing, but not trying to deny the truth either.

After a few deep breaths, Robin let go.

"I'm okay now… Sorry to wake you."

"It's dawn anyway. It's been a while since you had any of those nightmares, though, hasn't it?"

"Yeah…" the hero mumbled and touched the scar across his throat. Raven had done a wonderful job with it, and you couldn't really see it anymore, just a thin line of paler skin, but Robin could still, somehow, _feel_ it.

There were several possible reasons why the dream had appeared again… like sleeping on hard ground, the close call with the landslide… the fact that he wasn't sure that Slade really _was _there for him anymore… he didn't want to waste time considering any of them, it was useless anyway. He had already had the dream, acted like a complete baby, and almost had a cardiac arrest… nothing he could do to change that.

"I'll go make some coffee," he muttered after a moment.

"We _can _sleep for a bit longer," Slade pointed out.

"No, that's okay. You rest. I'll wake you when breakfast is done," Robin insisted.

"I love it when you're the perfect little housewife," the man smirked.

"Well, _you_ were one yesterday," the teen grinned back and got up.

* * *

After relieving himself behind a tree, Robin took great care in building a small fire with every rule in the rulebook carefully in mind so Slade wouldn't have anything to complain about. He went through the packs, and found the remains of the bread and fruit. Since both seemed a little on the crushed side, Robin decided that they would have that for breakfast.

He had brought oatmeal and prepared some of it, slicing an apple into the porridge to sweeten it up and give it a bit more taste. When that was done he called for Slade.

* * *

They ate in a comfortable silence and then packed everything up together. Robin noticed that his arms and shoulders were a little bit red after yesterday and quickly applied some sun-block just in case. Burning his shoulders, when he had to carry a backpack, was not something he wanted to do. Afterward he joined Slade who was studying the maps.

"Looks like it will be the forest all day," Robin said.

"Yes, and a slow rise all the way… I hope the animal-paths are well traveled or it will be a hard day."

Robin glanced up at the man. Hard on Slade? Not likely. So was the man worried about him?

"I'm sure we'll manage. I'll carry you if you get too tired," Robin grinned.

"Likewise," Slade smirked back.

Robin snorted softly and pretended to study the maps again.

"I'm glad we are going to cross these mountains without having to really climb them," he said, pointing out their route which went between two mountaintops.

"We will still be pretty high up, but you're right, it doesn't look like we have to cross anything too dangerous… It's something to be grateful for, I suppose. Are you ready to go?"

"Sure," Robin said and shrugged into his back-pack with a little wince. He was sore in all kinds of new ways, but it felt strangely good too. The outdoors might not be that horrible after all.

* * *

Being in the forest meant walking mainly in shadow and it was so cool that Robin even put on his jacket for now. The way the sun filtered through the trees was beautiful, however, and he got the feeling that they were in an enormous cathedral.

This wasn't a walk in the park, however. They did have to do a bit of climbing, since there were often fallen trees in the way, and it was much harder to follow a map without being in the open. As they were surrounded by trees they couldn't see obvious focal points like mountaintops, rivers and valleys. The maps they had were very detailed however; even large cliff blocks and the tiniest streams were marked, so Robin was fairly confident that they were on the right track.

Birds were singing and once in a while something rustled in the forest. Once they saw the white tails of a few deer running away.

It was clear that the area was untouched and seldom visited by humans, because the teen could find no trace of his own species. He started actively looking for such traces, like footprints, cans, fires or even paper or candy-wrappers, but there were none, which made him smile.

"Feels like we are alone in the world," he mumbled after a while, unconsciously keeping his voice low so as to not disturb the nature around him.

"That would be nice, wouldn't it?" Slade grinned back at him over his shoulder.

"Apart from the fact that it would be horrible to have lost everyone, yeah, it would be nice…" Robin smiled back. Being here made him almost feel a little… romantic.

"We would have a hell of a time trying to repopulate the earth, though…" the man chuckled. "But it would be fu-"

* * *

When Robin had started speaking in that soft voice, Slade had turned back to look at him. The teen's smile a second later was almost mesmerizing, making the man curse his employers to hell. While he was busy looking at and talking to Robin, however, he didn't really look where he was going… Suddenly something caught his foot.

* * *

Robin stared as the big man fell helplessly onto the path in front of them. For a second his impulse was to laugh, but then he heard a loud, ominous groaning sound. It didn't come from the man, though, but from their right. A sharp crack got Robin moving, and he threw himself forward, somehow managing to half drag, half carry, the man out of the way, just as a large tree crashed down across the path, just where Slade's back had been a moment before.

The noise was, for a moment, deafening in the quiet surroundings.

"What the hell?" Slade growled and got to his feet, helping Robin up at the same time.

"You're welcome," Robin mumbled, but he was half in shock, staring at the attacking tree.

"Guess that's two I owe you," Slade said in the same tone.

"Yeah… your turn next time," Robin answered.

"I'll remember that," the man promised.

"So… why the heck did that tree hate you? Did you uproot it? Are there beavers around?" Robin asked as Slade started making his way to the, so to speak, root of the problem.

"Beavers with chainsaws," the man said tensely.

"And tripping wires," Robin added and held up the wire he had just found, half hidden under the tree trunk. "Crafty beavers."

They looked at each other.

"What the hell…" Robin said, repeating Slade's words.

"…is going on here?" the man finished.

"Well… at least this hike just got a hell of a lot more interesting…" the teen smirked. Slade smirked back, eye gleaming. Yes it had.

* * *

The seriousness of the situation soon took over, however, as they crouched next to the more than half sawed off tree-stump.

"The cut is new," Slade said, touching the fresh, light wood. "No more than a day or so."

"I didn't hear any chainsaw, though, did you?" Robin asked and the man shook his head.

"No, but since we were down in the valley yesterday afternoon, we were quite far away." the man studied the scene again, frowning. "The set-up is impressive. They managed to balance the weight of the tree perfectly, with only a tripping wire setting it off… a strong enough wind, though, and all their work would have been for nothing."

"Do you think it was meant for… us?" Robin asked.

Slade paused and looked around, his eye taking in every detail around him.

"What do _you_ think?" he asked Robin after a while.

"The hairs on the back of my neck are standing on edge…" the teen growled.

"Mine too. Yeah, I think this was for us. Or rather, you."

"Seems like a stupid setup! A deer could have triggered it!" Robin was more annoyed by the threat of being killed in a stupid way, than the threat itself. People wanting to kill him was, after all, something he was used to dealing with.

"I think that if we were to go back to the last fallen tree, we would find that it hasn't fallen naturally, and I bet the next one, hasn't either…" Slade nodded at the trees, both visible from their spot. "I think they were felled to make sure any larger animals would take another route."

"Still very uncertain, " Robin pointed out, "and there's an even bigger flaw here…"

"And that is?" the man asked.

"If they were after the item, wouldn't crushing me under a tree risk it getting damaged?"

Slade stared at him for a moment and then grinned.

"Your mind is as exceptional as your ass, I must say."

"Err… thanks?" Robin raised an eyebrow, but couldn't help but chuckle on the inside.

"However this complicates things…" Slade muttered and frowned.

"How about we ask them?" the teen suggested.

"Who?"

"Well, if I set a trap in the forest, I'd come by and check on it, right?"

"Which means…" Slade started.

"That we better move."

* * *

A little while later they were lying flat among some bushes on the ground. They had taken off their backpacks to be able to move quickly if they needed to, and were now waiting for something to happen.

Robin had watched Slade very closely since they decided to hide. The man could really move quietly in the forest if he wanted to; not even a twig seemed to snap under his boots. Robin tried his hardest to copy him but felt like he just as well could have been standing up in red prom-dress smashing a pair of cymbals together for all the good that did. It wasn't just the way the man moved, however, it was also the way he acted, the way his eye gleamed.

"You're really loving this, aren't you?" Robin whispered.

"I'm a hunter, this is what I do," the man answered simply.

* * *

"Is 'what you do' just sitting around waiting?" Robin complained a little over an hour later.

"Sometimes," the man admitted.

"It's boring."

"You are being childish. Remember the cave?"

"I'm not gonna lie around _here_ for _weeks_!" Robin snorted.

"I hope not. I have a tree-root getting a bit too familiar with my private area," the man complained.

"Trees. If they don't wanna kill you they try to grope you. Wish I had an ax," Robin smirked.

"Nah, they are like people in general…" Slade smirked back, making Robin stifle a laugh. There was nothing like a common enemy to bring people together after all.

"Who do you think they are?" Robin asked. "The ones we're waiting for, that is, not the trees."

"Third party. Has to be," Slade answered.

"I still say that their methods are insane," Robin claimed.

"I agree… and I've been thinking about that land-slide… it could still have been a coincidence, but…"

"Neck-hair?" Robin asked.

"Neck-hair," the man confirmed.

"Would that mean someone started that slide by hand? Watching us? We didn't trip or anything, did we?"

"Not as I can recall… That they managed to trigger the tree might indicate that they are clever enough to set some sort of trigger for the slide as well, though… a rock we stepped on or something."

"But in that case that was cleverly hidden, and the tree-trigger was crude!" Robin objected. "The trigger itself, I mean; the wire. Anyone would have been able to find it."

"I don't think you look for a wire after being crushed by a tree," Slade deadpanned. "They probably counted on it to work. With the slide, a wire would be seen more easily, and harder to attach… but in my opinion, if the slide wasn't an accident, I think someone set it off by hand. This means that there might be people behind us as well, unless they know a better route to take."

"Well, if we include the slide, I would say that they were trying to make my death look like an accident, but the tree was _sawed_ down… Do they think that the investigators would believe that I did that first, then hid the chainsaw and then let the tree fall on me?" the teen snorted.

"No… but there are other trees around, which _have_ fallen naturally… they could take your body and place you under one of those… once the scavengers were through with you I doubt no one could tell the difference… if you were ever found."

"Oh… yeah…" The teen frowned, oddly undisturbed by his supposed murder, he just analyzed it. "It still doesn't make sense," he muttered. "I _hate_ when things don't make sense."

"Like you and me?" the man next to him smirked.

"You have a big cock and I have a tight ass. We make _perfect _sense," the teen grinned back in a rather naughty way.

"Robin, Robin, Robin…" Slade sighed and shifted. "Don't say things like that, or this tree-root will get lucky."

"You're just trying to make me jealous," Robin snickered quietly.

"Is it working?" the man smirked.

"Shut up!"

"What? I just-"

"No, I thought I heard something!" Robin hissed.

* * *

The 'something' just turned out to be another small group of deer, and once they had passed, Slade stood up.

"If there are deer walking around calmly, I don't think anyone is coming this way right now," he declared.

"They could still be waiting to ambush us, though?" Robin reminded him.

"If they were waiting for us, they should have come and checked by now, I think…" the man muttered. "Although I have no idea how these people reason."

"'Us', yes… if someone set the slide off, they know we are together!" Robin suddenly realized.

"That might be why they are cautious," Slade nodded. "They can't very well suppose that the tree killed both of us… and now they know we know."

"Wonderful," Robin muttered. "And they can run in circles around us, while we have to follow a path. A path they _know about_… and we also have a deadline. Well, _I _do. They might now know about yours."

"If they didn't before I'm sure they do now. I don't like any of this." the mercenary frowned.

"I'm not thrilled either," the teen agreed.

"We'll move out. Be careful, eye's open. We can't afford to lose that much more time," the man decided.

"Right, just keep yourself between me and any bullets…" Robin muttered as he followed.

"Of course."

"Slade, I was joking!" Robin exclaimed, a chill running down his spine at the very thought.

"I wasn't."

* * *

They traveled slower than before, staying off the track as much as they dared. There were two dangers about this; they risked getting too close to the 'danger-areas' Robin's employers had marked out, and they also risked becoming completely lost.

"I wish it had rained," Slade said after a while. "The tracks of broken twigs and straws I see could have been made by animals. I would give anything for a good foot-print, but the ground is too dry."

It was actually Robin who found one, a while later. It was a partial dust-print on a big leaf, but it was definitely not made by a bear. Unless it wore boots.

"So, there are people around after all," the teen said in a low voice. Sound carried in a strange way in the forest.

"Seems so."

Robin almost shivered, and hid it by pretending to adjust his backpack. It hadn't seemed too heavy before, but now he felt like it weighed him down like cement boots would a swimmer.

"I wish we could get rid of all our stuff," he admitted to the man.

"We have three days to go… without food or water, it would slow us down more than the weight does," Slade said. "However, we'll repack when we get the chance. We'll get rid of things we have two of, and everything we don't absolutely need."

Robin nodded. He knew Slade had been diplomatic; the man could easily survive himself, after all, it was _Robin_ who would slow down. The teen thought that, under different circumstances, he would be able to make do with a minimal ration, but in this terrain and with an unknown number of enemies out there, it was foolish to do so if it wouldn't become absolutely necessary. After all, the slow climb uphill in the dense forest was already starting to wear him out.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when Slade heard Robin stumble for the third time, and turned around to give the careless boy a piece of his mind. Barging through the woods like an elephant was no way to remain undiscovered. What he saw, though, directed his irritation from the hero and towards himself. Mostly.

"Robin, you little fool!" the man hissed.

The teen looked up at him blearily.

"What?" he growled.

"You have to tell me when you're getting tired! You know I don't feel it the same way, and I can't ask you every mile if you're fine."

"I _am_ fine," Robin insisted sullenly.

"And that's the answer I would get if I did, I guess…" the man sighed and seemed to look to the heavens for some kind of unlikely help. "You're worn out. You need food and rest, and it looks like you should have told me five miles ago!"

Robin blushed but didn't object. He was tired. He felt soaked by sweat and a little lightheaded. All the climbing over trees, trying to get through shrubs without making a noise, the packing, and the never ending hill combined with the tension of looking out for enemies as well as keeping on the right track, had taken its toll.

* * *

A small clearing surrounded by bushes and thick trees became their camping site a little while later. Slade made a small fire and started heating some of the water they had left.

"I'll go look for more water, according to the map there should be some half a mile or so away," Slade told him. "I don't want to leave you, but we need it."

"I'll be fine," Robin sighed. "I'll sit tight and keep quiet."

"You?" the man grinned then came closer, brushing something from the teen's hair.

Robin knew what he was silently asking for and hesitated. _What the hell… he's worth it… we BOTH deserve it, actually, _he thought and tilted his head back.

The kiss was slow and echoed through the teen's body. Slade tasted him like he was a rare treat, a fine wine or expensive dessert, something to be treasured and slowly enjoyed. Robin was ready to tell the man that they would be fine without water for a while, when he slowly withdrew.

They shared a little smile.

"I'll go now, but you better forgive me soon," Slade said wistfully

"I'd love to. As soon as you reassure me that you won't screw me in a way I don't want to be screwed," Robin answered, drawing on his last ounce of resistance.

"Hmm," was all the man uttered before he turned away and left.

* * *

Robin had found a bag in Slade's packing of dried something. He thought it was soup and it had noodles in it, but it wasn't labeled. It smelled good, though, better than what he had found among his own stuff, so he decided to try it. Just as he was about to pour some of it into the boiling water, a spark from the fire burned his hand, and he dropped the whole bag into the flames. Robin cursed as the smell of burning plastic and also burning food from the dried soup spread. He waved the smoke away and reached for another bag, one of his own this time, and soon the soup was simmering nicely.

Robin stood up to pack the bag away when a twig snapped behind him. He spun around and stared right into the barrel of a rifle.

_To be continued…_

* * *

A/N: no one hates me now, huh? Oh good! Because I wanted to say that even though I would never hold a chapter hostage for reviews, doesn't mean I don't love them! ;) Especially right now… -_-


	5. Money, Money, Money

A/N: An anonymous reviewer suggested that this trip was all a set-up for Slade to propose and the box contains a ring! I thought that was an absolutely WONDERFUL idea... I love it… I'm almost sorry it's not true… ;) …apart from the fact that it would make this universe a bit too fluffy… ;)

The titles, as hopefully some of you have figured out by now, are all ABBA-songs. There's no reason for this at all (ABBA will not appear, nor is this story a musical). I'd just want to add the disclaimer saying that I do not own the song-titles… Björn and Benny does… Björn means "bear" in Swedish. This is funny. You'll find out why, later.

Thank you to my Beta-muse **Jayto **as usual, I'll try to have chapter 8 for you tonight or tomorrow…

Any mistakes left, have been put in the story afterwards by me, to make Jayto look bad so no one else will ask her to beta. She's MINE!

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* * *

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Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm

**Chapter 5: Money, Money, Money**

After the split second it took the teen to recover from the shock he noticed two things; the armed man was not as close as he first had seemed to be and two… well, he was a man. And alone. And Robin was in trouble. Might be four things. Robin mentally shook his head. It wasn't like him to freeze up like this, if it was, he would have been dead long before now. He blamed the circumstances. He was in completely unfamiliar territory, with no weapons, no help around, and he was exhausted. His stomach even growled, urging him to ignore the man and have a mug of the now simmering soup.

"Where's Slade?" the man with the rifle suddenly asked. He had kept the weapon steady the whole time, telling Robin that he was a pro, and not nervous.

"Oh, I'm all alone. Are you, by the way?" Robin asked with an innocent look on his face. The man was dressed in camouflage-wear and looked rather nondescript. Medium blond hair, a short scruffy beard, light colored eyes from what Robin could see. Not very tall or really very muscular, just of an average build, although Robin might be a bit spoiled in that area.

"Cut the bull, I know he's around."

"And yet you came out in the open, wielding a weapon? Stupid," the teen smirked. Taunting the man might not seem like a smart idea from the outside, but Robin knew, by experience, that certain people would never let a teen have the last word, even if that meant putting off pulling the trigger. It had saved him many times.

"I'll just shoot you now, then," the man decided.

Ah. Might not work this time, though.

"I wouldn't. I would save my bullets," Robin advised. "I really, really would."

"What for?" the man snorted.

"Well, for Slade, for one… it will take a whole lot of ammo of that caliber to take him down, and if you shoot me, he'll be _angry_ when he comes for you… you are better off with some sort of bazooka, really… and then there's that bear behind you."

His would-be killer actually burst out laughing.

"You expect me to believe that, kid? How stupid do you think I am?"

"Preeeeeetty stupid," Robin admitted. "But, yeah, I wouldn't believe it either, in your situation… But could you lower the gun just a smidge so you don't fire it by accident when you realize that I'm telling the truth?" he asked, looking over the man's shoulder. The thing was that there actually _was _a bear.

It was a black bear, not a grizzly, and the size, at first glance, wasn't that impressive. The animal, as it stood on all fours, couldn't be much more than a little over three feet tall. It was curious, though, as it kept coming closer and sniffing the air, and Robin realized that it was probably the smell of food that was calling for it. It looked a little thin for it being summer; maybe it was sickly, which might just make it desperate enough to come this close.

Robin just realized that he had been staring at the bear when his priority, perhaps, should be the man with the gun. Fortunately the man had noticed this too, and began thinking that the teen might not be bluffing. As the animal got closer, the snuffling sound made the armed man turn around.

* * *

Slade came running into the camp fifteen minutes later, finding Robin calmly sipping soup from a foldable mug.

The man looked around and then back at the teen.

"There's a dead bear and a dead man over there," he pointed out.

"So there is," Robin nodded.

"Care to tell me how that happened?"

"I don't think you'd believe me," Robin shrugged.

"Try me."

* * *

It had all happened very quickly, but the result was rather astonishing, if somewhat bloody. The man had turned and fired at the bear. The bullet had merely grazed its flank, but Robin's instincts about it must have been right, because instead of fleeing, it attacked.

As it reared up on its hind legs, just in front of the man, he fired another shot, this one going straight into the bear's head from below, killing it instantly. Here, Robin's luck might have ended, if the bear hadn't tumbled forward, over its killer. The man, not quite sure the beast was actually dead, kept the rifle raised, and the bear's body hit the pipe, knocking the man over as well. With the gun still held in position at his shoulder, the man fell backwards. The butt of the rifle slipped from his shoulder towards his neck, and, as the man fell down, his neck was trapped between the ground and the wood. A nasty crunching sound was heard when the weight of the bear fully landed.

Robin quickly made sure they were both dead, not quite believing his eyes, and, as he now explained it to Slade, the man seemed to have a similar problem with his ears.

* * *

"Did you find out who he is?" the man asked.

"Yes, he's _Dead Guy_. All I need to know," Robin muttered, still clutching his mug.

"I started running as soon as I heard the shots. Others might have heard them as well… you should have left," Slade told him sternly.

"To go where? With what? You took the map of this area with you, anyway… and even if I would have just run… I… I wouldn't have gotten far. I'm too tired Slade… sorry."

"At least you admit it," the man muttered. "Stay. Eat. Rest. I'll take care of it."

Robin just nodded as Slade went over to the dead bodies and dragged the bear to the side.

"What if he has something electronic with him?" Robin called out. "It might have fried the gadget already."

"Nothing of that sort so far," the mercenary reported. "He wouldn't have, if he knew what he was after."

"Yeah... about that…" Robin said. "It's weird... well… two things are weird."

"Only two?" Slade smirked as he straightened up and gestured to the scene in general.

"Yes… he didn't_ ask_ about the item… where it was or for me to turn it over… and he knew your name."

Slade tensed immediately and took a closer look at the man's face.

"Never seen him before in my life," he muttered.

"Well, 'everyone knows the monkey'…" Robin shrugged.

"Very funny, princess… but you're probably right," Slade conceded. "No identification, nothing electronic as far as I can find, not even a watch… no gear. He must have a campsite somewhere."

"Should we look for it?"

"He might not be alone. In this situation, I think we better keep moving."

"Okay. He didn't act like he had any backup close by, though," Robin said, "but you're right. Why risk it? We'll try to keep clear of any more people."

"Actually, I _do_ have some questions I would have liked to ask. Pity he died."

"Next time someone points a gun at me, I'll _try _to stop dead bears from falling on them," Robin muttered dryly.

"Good boy. Ready to go? We can't stay here for the night."

"I know, I know… I'm okay," the teen muttered and started to put the fire out while Slade packed.

"Hey, shouldn't we bring the rifle?" Robin suggested, looking towards the cooling bodies.

"My princess the grave-robber…" Slade grinned. "Good idea, but I already checked. The bear made a mess of it, and it looks like the barrel was bent. I wouldn't dare try to use it. Don't want to lose my other eye."

The man handed him his backpack, and the teen noticed that it was suspiciously lighter than before, while Slade's seemed to be bulging. Robin didn't make a fuss, though, and only gave him a little smile. It was sweet. Slade's _intention_ might not have been to be sweet, but merely make sure they moved quicker, but Robin decided to interpret it as such nonetheless. He felt a little starved for tenderness at the moment.

* * *

They walked for two hours, but at a slower pace than they had earlier. The trees were beginning to thin out now as they traveled higher up, and Slade decided that they should stop before they were completely out in the open. They found a sheltered spot away from the path, next to a large rock.

Robin dropped his pack on the ground and stretched his back.

"I'm going to go visit a tree," he mumbled, fetching some toilet paper and Slade's trowel.

"Don't go too far. I'll repack in the mean time," Slade told him. "And be careful."

The teen didn't have enough energy to snort, so he just nodded.

* * *

The farther he got from their camp, the more nervous he became. The sun was setting lower in the sky and the nature around him still produced too many damn noises! Robin bent his head back and looked upwards, towards the tree tops, longingly. Had this been the city, he would be up there now, jumping or swinging over the roofs… Above everything. He sighed and shook his head. When he saw a sidewalk again, he'd kiss it.

* * *

When he returned, Slade had finished and there were a pile of extra things put to the side.

"I figure you don't have a personal attachment to any of this?" the man asked and gestured to it.

"None what so ever," Robin admitted. "Although, the bivouac sack?"

"I kept my tarp, if it should rain… not that I don't think we'll die from getting wet… maybe I should get rid of that too," the man frowned thoughtfully. "No, it might come in handy," he then decided.

Robin just shrugged. Slade was the one carrying it, so the decision was his.

"What's for dinner?" the teen asked.

"I'm thinking that we should go without a fire tonight. In daylight a small one isn't too visible, but at night…"

"I agree… would rather not be a target again," Robin smirked. "But do we have anything that's editable cold?"

"Power bars, nuts and these," Slade said and held up a can.

"Canned peaches? You packed those? But the weight?"

"It's not the best hiker-idea, no, but I happen to like them, and the extra sugar and fluid is good to have. And I think we deserve a treat after today."

"Couldn't agree more," Robin grinned.

* * *

"That was one weird dinner, but _man_ was it tasty…" Robin purred an hour later. He was sitting on his sleeping bag, leaning against Slade's shoulder. They had already prepared for the night, and Robin was a bit sorry now, because brushing his teeth had taken away the sweet taste in his mouth. The only thing they hadn't been able to do was wash, because there wasn't any water close by. They would have to make do with the water Slade had brought until tomorrow, when their trail would lead them to a small stream coming down from the mountains. They would then follow that for most of the morning, Robin remembered, and he hoped there would be a lack of armed men and sick bears tomorrow, at least long enough for him to wash quickly.

"I do try," Slade sighed mockingly and pulled him closer, until Robin was almost in his lap. "Say, there was a bear today…?"

"Yes. You didn't save me from it, though," Robin pointed out with a grin.

"Should still count for something..?"

Robin chuckled and put his arms around the man's neck. Yeah, it _should_ count for something… maybe they _both _deserved this? What did withholding sex accomplish anyway? Slade didn't exactly seem to break apart from it. It was one thing of course, when Robin wasn't in the mood, but right now, he was beginning to be.

"Hmm-mm…" the hero therefore hummed, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe you should see how much it will get you, then?"

The man grinned and bent his head to kiss him. Robin parted his lips immediately, inviting him in. The kiss quickly became hotter, more demanding, and as Robin shifted in Slade's lap to try to find a more comfortable position, his hand slipped and brushed over the mercenary's groin. The man was already hard, and the teen made a little sound of surprise. Maybe the abstinence _had _affected him?

Suddenly the Titan found himself on his back on his sleeping-bag, head spinning with the movement. He froze for a second. He hadn't meant it to go quite this far, but Slade must have interpreted the touch as intentional; as an invitation. The man was kissing him again, his lips, his jaw, his neck, and Robin found himself relaxing.

"I want you," Slade half gasped, half growled in his ear, and Robin felt his trousers being unzipped and pulled down.

He made a little sound as his fingers clutched at the fabric of the sleeping-bag. Slade was getting in position already, slicked up with what, Robin didn't know. It was fast. They were fast like this sometimes, so it was okay, the teen figured. Slade just really wanted him, wanted to be intimate with him again; to be _closer_ again. That's what Robin wanted too, he realized. He looked up at the man with a smile on his lips, but Slade had his eye closed.

_Look at me… why won't you look at me? Are you just trying not to come too fast? Are you enjoying it so much or… don't you WANT to look at me? Are you afraid I'll see something in that look? Or see something MISSING? _

The teen felt the head of the man's cock prod his entrance.

_I'm just being neurotic…_ he told himself. _I want this. This is good. It WILL be good._

He prepared himself for the entry, making his muscles relax and… couldn't.

Instead of the filling pleasure there was a stab of pain.

"No!" Robin bolted backwards, but couldn't move far. "Slade! Stop!"

"What is it?" The words might have been said in concern, but sounded almost irritated.

"I… I can't… I…"

* * *

Slade opened his eye and looked down on his lover. What was it now? Had it all been a game? Getting him all hot and bothered and now he was going to start making stupid, childish demands?

One look told him differently, however. He moved back so Robin could unfold his legs, which had been pushed up against his chest, with his trousers and underwear still around his ankles.

"You… you're not even hard," Slade discovered, his eye widening.

Robin looked down on himself, seemingly surprised.

"I… _thought_ I…"

Slade's anger rose again. Had the stupid boy tried to seduce him? Without being aroused himself?

"Why?"

* * *

Robin blinked up at the man. Why? Why what? Why wasn't he hard? How the hell would he know? It had all been fun and nice… just… not…

"I… I don't know… I thought I wanted it too, but-"

"You_ thought_? You groped me!"

"I was trying not to fall off your lap! I just wanted to make out!" Robin hissed and pulled up his pants.

"You are still expecting me to give up my assignment, aren't you?" Slade growled. "Might I remind you that you once said that you knew I wouldn't change for you? That you didn't _expect _me to? Forgotten about that?"

"No." Robin's voice was cold. "I haven't."

"Then stop your _silly little game_!"

Robin's heart stopped for a few moments. Slade never shouted at him. Well… okay, so he did. Rather a lot actually, but not like_ this_. Not in this _tone_.

"What 'silly little game'? You and me? Want_ that_ to stop?" Robin felt like he was about to explode.

"No."

Robin's mouth closed with a click. He had expected a needle, but instead Slade had said the one word that slowly let the air out of his balloon, and he felt himself deflate.

"No?" he asked weakly.

"Let's just… let's just sleep on it. We're tired. It's been a long day," the mercenary said.

Robin sat quietly for a moment and then looked up at the man.

"No, I think… I think we need to talk."

"Dreaded words…" Slade gave a weak half smirk.

"With good reason," Robin nodded. "Actually… I don't think we need to talk, really."

"Good."

"I think _I_ need to talk and_ you_ need to listen."

"Ah."

"Slade, I… I remember saying those words. It was at the island, waiting for the pirates. Our mission was almost over… the one I was _paying _you for. I knew you would leave. You_ did_ leave… our chances were… minimal, at best. But… you came _back_. And you helped me free Cyborg… and I think… I think that little Master/Pet thing you insisted on as payment was… an excuse. Because you _wanted_ to be with me… and I agreed because… I wanted to be with _you_… and we almost lost each other, but we… we got closer, didn't we?" Robin paused just long enough to force a short nod from the man. "Yes, well… It worked somehow… _we_ worked, but those were _adventures_… crazy adventures far away from our ordinary lives and roles… after we got back to Jump, things have been… there have been some clashes, right?"

"As in all relationships, Robin. Or did you expect a fairytale one?"

"I just think there's a difference between arguing about dirty shirts on the floor and shirts soaked in _blood_!" Robin shot back.

"Like I told you, it was just a bar fight, I wasn't even in it, I just got a guy with a broken nose thrown against me," Slade defended himself.

"Yes, yes, sure! And now? I thought I could do this Slade, I thought I could handle you working outside the law at times, and I_ could_, while looking the other way… but _confronted _with who you are, like this?" Robin hesitated. "No. Not with who you _are_… with what you _do_. Because you could be a fucking _hero_, Slade! You've already proven that so many times! But you _choose_ to hurt people, and that just _pisses me off_!"

"And do you think it's easy watching you throw yourself in the way of danger for _nothing_? For _strangers_? For people so wrapped up in their own lives that they haven't even discovered the threat?" Slade's voice was strong but calm.

"I. Save. Lives," the teen hissed.

"You_ gamble_ with your_ own_."

"So do _you_! Are you saying it's better to do it for _money_?" Robin said incredulously.

"Well, then at least people know what you are worth."

"All they know is that you have a price and can be bought! At least I'm not whoring myself out!"

"Oh, so dying because of a savior-complex is better?"

"I'd rather die because of_ that_ than because someone _paid_ me to!" Robin snarled.

"You are amazingly beautiful when you are angry."

"And you-! What?" Robin lost his momentum for a second. "NO! No, don't you _dare_, Slade! Don't you get it! We're drifting apart! I can't trust you! I keep waiting for you to hit me over the head and just take the box and _leave_! I couldn't make love to you just now, because of that and I _HATE it_! _I hate it_!" Robin's fists hit the man's chest, and only now did he realize that they hadn't moved, they were still curled up very close to each other next to the rocky ground.

"I know. Me too." Slade's eye locked onto his and Robin could see a certain amount of regret and pain there, but also, perhaps, confusion.

"I want to be able to make love to you again," Robin mumbled, ceasing his onslaught, which hadn't seemed to bother the man that much anyway.

"Likewise."

"But if we can't deal with who we are… maybe… there's no use."

"There was never any _use_," Slade snorted with a smirk which Robin only returned very wanly. "Do you think there's any chance we could get your old man kidnapped by pirates again? Start over?"

"If we did, would you have come back?"

Slade snorted again, and then let out a short chuckle.

"Do you want me to tell you what I would do if I could go back in time, knowing everything I do now?"

"Yeah?" Robin asked carefully.

"Well, firstly, I would have joined the cruise and kicked that slimy Jamie off the ship before he even got a chance to touch you, I would then have seduced you by the pool, rescued you all together from the pirates, taken you to my island, and we would have still been there… although perhaps in a place with windows."

"What about Bruce?" Robin asked, trying not to feel as amused as he did.

"Him? I would have left him with the pirates. Good riddance. Oh, that reminds me, I would also have to take a quick trip to Gotham to kill Blood, and get Rose."

"Kill Blood? But in that universe he hadn't _done_ anything yet?" Robin pointed out. "Well… okay, so he's a _villain_, but... you know."

"He _thought_ about my daughter," the man growled. "He dies."

"Boy, you're a son-in-law's worst nightmare, aren't you?" Robin couldn't stifle a chuckle.

"Bruce is about to find out," Slade smiled grimly.

* * *

Robin looked up into that sparkling grey eye and didn't know whether to laugh or scream or cry or kiss the man. Impossible. That's what he was. Slade was impossible. But were _they_ impossible?

"I want you to be my tiger again." Robin hadn't meant to say it aloud, not really, but the words slipped out nonetheless.

"Tiger?" Slade chuckled.

Robin blushed.

"Forget it," he mumbled.

"No. I'd like to be your tiger… the princess and the tiger… reminds me of an old limerick."

"What?"

"There was a young lady of Niger

Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;

They returned from the ride

With the lady inside,

And the smile on the face of the tiger." Slade quoted with a smirk worthy of said tiger.

"Yeah. Perfect. I'm gonna get eaten," Robin muttered. "That's what I was afraid of."

"Don't worry, this tiger would rather be inside _you_," the man purred.

"There are no tigers in Africa anyway…" Robin said sullenly.

"Oh, this was a pet one, I'm sure… belonging to the princess…" Slade chuckled.

"She should have settled for a rug," the teen snorted.

* * *

They were both quiet for a while. None of them seemed to want to say anything, in case they made things worse. On the other hand, none of them could think of anything to say to make it _better _either. Neither Slade nor Robin was much for making promises just to smooth things over.

Slade excused himself after a while and Robin took the opportunity to clean up while the man was gone, perhaps to do the same. A bit of toilet paper was all he needed to wipe the slick substance, his own sun-block lotion by the smell of it, off.

"Well, that was a real waste…" he muttered to himself.

Robin returned to his position of leaning against the rock, but wrapped his sleeping bag around him. It was getting colder as the sun was setting. Something dug into his leg and he shifted, discovering that it was the sharp edges of the little box which was to blame He pulled it out of his pocket and glared at it.

Slade returned and sat down himself.

"You know what?" Robin said after some time.

"What?" the man asked kindly.

"Fuck this."

"Excuse me?" Slade turned to face him.

"I'm serious. Fuck this. Let's throw this piece of crap away and just get out of here. If they want it so badly they can go get it themselves," Robin growled and waved the small, black box around.

"But then we'll never find out how this ends…" Slade grinned at him. "May I see that for a moment?"

Robin hesitated, with good reason, he told himself, but then handed it over.

The man weighed it in his hand, turned it over and studied the container from all angles.

"This might actually survive being hit by a tree…" he mumbled.

"Well… good for it," Robin snorted then his eyes widened as Slade flicked the box open. "Hey, what the fuck are you doing? What if you just destroyed it?"

"Don't think so," the man growled darkly. "It's empty."

_To be continued…_

* * *

A/N: the Limerick is not mine… it's an old one, and I remember it from one of my old English books… I haven't been able to find out who wrote it, but most guesses seems to be Monkhouse.

I'll see you next Friday! Those of you who follow the kitty m-preg story I'll see sooner… ;) I'll also try to draw a bit this weekend, but we'll see how that works out… ;)

Please review and if you have theories about what will happen, please share! It's all pretty much nailed down now, apart from those pesky details… ;)


	6. Super Trouper

A/N: Since everyone ill hate me after this, I want to say thank you to my beat-muse Jayto again for some last minute extra beta-work! So at least I'll have one person who will still talk to me… I hope…

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Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm

**Chapter 6: Super Trouper**

For a split second, Slade thought Robin had tricked him and removed the item, hiding it somewhere else. Then the man saw the look on the teen's face and immediately knew that this wasn't the case. Robin was actually a good actor when he wanted to be, but not _that _good.

"But… what… I…" the teen stammered. A panicked search through all of his pockets followed, while Slade merely studied the box calmly.

"It wouldn't have opened by itself, so I don't think you have lost it," he said as Robin's search got more and more frantic. "I don't think there ever _was_ anything in it."

"Wait, what if it _is_ the box? I mean the item is the box itself, it's just designed to… hold something?" Robin suggested. "But… the guy said the box _protected_ the thing…"

Slade studied it again, flicked the sides with a fingernail, and felt around it, checking the thickness of all sides as well as the hinges.

"Take a look," he said and gave it back to Robin. "See if you can spot something I can't."

"Do you have a lighter? It's already so dark," the teen asked and started to examine it himself. After a few minutes, even after Slade had provided more light, he sighed and shook his head. "No… I don't see even the smallest hint of anything electronic… Could be on a microscopic scale, though… nano-technology?"

"What do those neck-hairs tell you?" Slade asked.

"That it's empty," Robin muttered.

"I'm willing to bet it's just a worthless plastic box."

"But why?"

"That's the question, yes."

Slade frowned. He didn't like this one bit. Robin seemed to be thinking things over, looking just as displeased as the man.

"Well…" the teen said at last, "the obvious answer is that I'm a decoy. They are probably taking the real thing to another pick-up place somewhere else, and leaked the fake information to your employers."

"Perhaps. I had the feeling that they had an inside man close to the project, though… They seemed very sure of all the details. And the others? The man under the bear for example? Neither of us thinks that he was acting alone so we can't forget that there are at least two parties involved here."

"Couldn't your employer have sent that guy too?" Robin asked, but Slade saw the small smirk and knew that the teen was teasing him.

"Please. They sent _me._ No backup necessary," he snorted.

"Yeah, yeah, Mr. Full-of-himself… but if there's one spy, there could be several, just like you said by that attacking tree… so what if there are more people that know about this?" Robin shrugged.

"It's possible, and maybe even reasonable. The thing is that I don't like the fact that I had never heard of this facility or any top secret project like this before, though… I don't claim to know _everything _that's going on, but if the security is leaking like a sieve, and I_ still_ don't know about it… then there's something wrong. And that man knew my name…" Slade was still very annoyed, and his mind tried and discarded possibility after possibility.

The sun had set by now and it would soon be completely dark. The pair looked at each other and Robin shivered before turning his gaze out into the darkness.

"I don't like this. It was supposed to be a stroll in the woods, not... _complicated_. It's like playing Monopoly and then suddenly someone hits you with a Royal Flush. It doesn't make _sense_…"

"Well, I say that we get some sleep, and tomorrow we'll try to figure out how to make them Checkmate," Slade suggested with a smirk filled with confidence that he really didn't feel.

* * *

Robin fell asleep watching Slade sitting on guard and when the teen woke up the next morning the man hadn't moved. Robin doubted that he had slept at all.

"You should have woken me up for guard-duty," the hero objected.

"Why? You need your sleep more," the mercenary countered. "There's oatmeal and a power-bar for breakfast."

"Yummy. When we get out of here I'll order pizza for breakfast every day for a week."

The man didn't comment; he only snorted softly.

* * *

"Okay, so what do we do?" Robin asked a while later as he was finishing up the oatmeal, grateful to have something warm in his stomach. The night had been cold and his clothes felt strangely damp. He bet he smelled.

"What are our options?" Slade asked back. "Let's focus on them first."

"Well, we could continue to follow the map, and risk getting more stuff dropped on us…" Robin said. "Or we just get the hell out of here…"

"Yes… Or we can see if we can figure out where someone might ambush us next and attack _them_ instead," Slade said.

"And why should we bother?" Robin frowned and crossed his arms. It seemed foolish to rush into danger, and yes, Robin knew that it was ironic that _he _was the one thinking this.

"To get some answers," Slade shrugged.

"Look, if we, that is _I_, am a decoy, the others are clearly just lowly, filthy, single-minded mercenaries," Robin smirked. "Present company _included_. Anyway, if that lab sent me out as a decoy, it worked, right? You and your rivals can't possibly catch up with the real item now, because you have no clue where it is… so I have pretty much done my part. Okay, maybe we should meet up with the people at the rendezvous-point, if only so I can punch someone in the face and get a ride out of here, but… other than that, why bother? We won, you lost."

"If that hypothesis is correct, I agree… apart from the mercenary-slurs, which you will pay for later, trust me," Slade looked thoughtful. "But what proof do we have?"

"Well… the bear-hugger didn't have anything electronic on him…?" the hero said after a while. "That is an indication that they know about the item and are after it."

"Yes, but we didn't bother to find his camp. He wouldn't be this far out in the wilderness without as much as a back-pack," the man muttered. "Damn… we should have looked for it."

"And wasted time when his friends might have been on their way?" Robin said dryly. "We left and it was the right thing to do."

"Perhaps," Slade had to agree reluctantly. "Very well, if these people, because I don't think he was alone, simply are after what they think we have, then we might as well leave, even though it annoys me… But there's something… I can't put my finger on it… he knew my name, but he could just have been a fan, after all…" Slade smirked.

"And now your entire fan-club is rotting under a bear… Sad," the teen grinned.

"Said the president of that fan-club," Slade snorted.

"Oh, please…" Robin snorted. "But, okay, you say something's wrong… Your Slady-sense is tingling or whatever… and I must say that there was nothing about the guy who sent me on the mission that suggested he sent me out with a dud… although he might not have known about it… so that doesn't add up either." Robin frowned for a moment. "I also mentioned the fact that I might run into a bear with a radio-tracker and was held back so they could check if there was anything like that in the area… true, I was sitting in a waiting-room, so they might have just gone to lunch, but… oh, and the bear-guy didn't actually ask after the item either, so… my money is on that there's something weird going on here too."

"Good, that means we know where to go next," Slade nodded.

"Err... where?" the teen said, not sure he followed the man's thought-process at the moment.

"Where I wanted to go in the first place; to find some answers, of course," Slade grinned.

* * *

Robin let the man take the lead as they set off. That didn't mean he wouldn't question every step, however.

"Let's say, and I know this is a remote risk, but let's say I really _have_ the real item…" the teen started, "running into a red area and frying the thing wouldn't be so great, no matter how many answers we might get."

"True. According to the map, you will have to take the trail through the valley over there. I'll take another route, up the side, to see if I can spot anything or anybody."

"Won't they see you and know that something's up?" the hero objected.

"You have no faith in me what so ever, have you?" the proud mercenary snorted.

"Only in bed," Robin grinned. "Well… I _had_. Now… not so much."

"I'll make it up to you as soon as you are over your annoying issues," Slade smirked. "Trust me; you'll worship me like a God when I'm through with you."

Robin burst out laughing.

"Right…Sure I will. So, do we split up here or closer to the valley?"

"Here. The trees still cover us, so when you walk out into the open it will look like you are alone."

"Great, I get to play the sitting duck?" Robin scowled.

"But you are so _good_ at that part… although I prefer to call it 'damsel in distress'," Slade smirked.

"Loathsome old man," Robin muttered.

"No time for sweet-talk. I have emptied our packs to a minimum, but they might still get in the way, so prepare to shrug yours off if you have to. It's better to lose the packing and get out of the way, than not to. And you might want to pick up a weapon."

"Oh, yes. No problem," Robin said sarcastically. "Just let me find my work-shop or a store…"

"You fight with a _stick_ and we are in a _forest_…" the man said dryly. "Try to draw a conclusion from that."

"Oh just go climb a mountain," Robin murmured, cheeks heating up. If he had stopped and thought about it, instead of just snapping back, he might not have looked as much of an idiot right now.

"Not without a good luck kiss," the man said and came up to him.

"Oh, so you need one, huh?" Robin grinned, feeling a bit better.

"No," Slade started and then bent down to kiss him for quite some time. "But _you_ might. Be careful, princess."

When Robin got his breath back, Slade was too far away to hear a retort… and Robin couldn't think of anything to say, anyway.

* * *

Just before the trees gave away completely to the open rocky landscape he was going to cross, Robin found a small dead tree, dried out and almost fossilized by wind and sun. It had clearly lived a tough life as it was a dwarfed plant, unable to grow fast in the meager soil and battered by the elements at all times. Its branches were almost growing parallel to the ground, making it look like the poor plant was trying to crawl to safety. Robin hoped it didn't mind too much when he kicked it apart.

The violent outburst had a goal, of course, and Robin soon swung the result in the air to try it out. The state of the tree had made the branch crooked, and it had something of a hook at one end, but Robin knew he could handle it. It was thicker than his usual bo-staff; his fingers could just close around it, but it was very light as well. It wasn't flexible, though, so he could forget about launching himself into the air with it, but it would do for breaking someone's nose.

He checked the map one last time, but there was really nowhere he could get lost as he was to follow the valley and wouldn't reach the other side until late in the afternoon, so he stuffed the map into his back-pack.

"So, a carefree stroll then… if nothing else falls on me…" Robin muttered to himself.

He set off, using his new weapon as a walking-staff and trying not to look like he was expecting to be ambushed.

He checked his water-supply after a while, and found his bottle full, thanks to Slade. Still, it seemed to be another hot day in the open, so he had to be careful with it. According to what he had seen on the map he would be following a stream soon, and then he guessed he had to put those water purification tablets to the test.

The trail was rather steep in places, and it wasn't long before Robin started to feel the air thinning. He turned back and was stunned by how far up he was, and he still hadn't reached the base of the closest mountain-top.

From up here, Robin could see a lot of the mountain range, and he was glad that his path only led over the edge of it, because it certainly became more massive further away.

The peaks he was going to pass between loomed over him in a not-so friendly way. He tried to spot Slade, but hadn't seen as much as a glimpse of the man since they parted, which was a bit unnerving as the landscape was so open.

"If he's in some coffee-shop right now, I'm going to kill him," Robin snorted, and then decided that talking to himself might not be the best way to go. He was used to Batman disappearing after all, hell; he was quite good at it himself. People were _supposed_ to see him now, however.

_I'm the dams- sitting duck, after all…_ Robin thought to himself, and, sliding on his sunglasses, he continued to walk, whistling merrily.

The innocent act would, of course, only work if the people that might or might not be watching him, didn't know about the dead man. Hopefully they didn't. They weren't allowed any communication-devices, after all… unless they used smoke-signals or something… Robin grinned to himself, he _was _getting ridiculous, wasn't he? Well, Batman had taught him to consider all possibilities, so he did… and it was a good way to pass the time.

Robin reached the entry to the pass just before lunch and decided to stop to eat before entering. The stream which he had found by now looked inviting enough for Robin to freshen up a little as his noodles boiled. Pizza. He really, really wanted pizza. He found a power bar with enough chocolate in it to quench his urge for junk food, and he decided to indulge. Slade must have put it in his back, because he didn't remember doing so. Nice of him. The man was probably trying to butter him up. Well… it would still take a _lot _of butter.

He suddenly had an inner vision of him and Slade, naked, covered in the slick- no! Robin tore his mind away from the image. He was, after all, supposed to focus on the mission, not mind-rape Slade.

This set off another little fantasy.

* * *

After packing, putting out the fire and making sure he left his resting-spot in perfect condition, Robin set off into the valley. At first the hillsides were merely sloping down on either side of him, but soon they got steeper.

Robin tried to keep an eye out, without walking with his head tilted backwards, and stopped often, pretending to enjoy the view. The feeling of walking straight into a trap only grew.

* * *

Slade had studied the map carefully before he left it with Robin, committing every slope and curve to memory… of Robin too, he had to admit. He snorted. He could usually control his urges better than this. Actually, one of the first times he remembered losing to them was in a certain cave with a certain hero.

It still irritated him, almost worried him, that Robin had such an impact on him. His princess had well and truly fucked up his life, and would continue to do so, if Slade had anything to say about it. And he did. At least he liked to tell himself so.

He moved and climbed silently, not much bothered by his back-pack. He was used to carrying supplies or weapons, after all, and the weight was no problem; only the bulk might be. He had long since learned to compensate for the shift in his balance that his packing created, and moved as if it wasn't there.

The route he had chosen was the one he thought was most likely to help him stop any attackers, but, he had to admit, there were many places along the way which might hide a danger, not to mention that he could only be on_ one _side of the valley. He started to regret leaving Robin to be a target. He had thought he would be able to protect the hero, but, seeing the pass for himself, he begun to doubt it. Robin could have covered the other side, but their unknown enemies would have been alerted to the fact that they were on to them and escape. If they saw Robin, they might just assume that he was alone now and stay put.

He climbed around another block and glanced down. Robin had set off again, walking into the valley now, after his lunch, and Slade decided to try and stay ahead of him, maybe taking care of any dangers before Robin even noticed them.

The teen, however, had a pretty straight-forward walk, while Slade met a bit more difficulty.

The cliffs on both sides plunged down in what looked like giant steps, creating broken paths of ledges, both narrow and wide, here and there, almost reaching all the way up to the peaks. This made climbing easier, but it also created too many places where someone might be hiding. The pass was far from straight; it winded its way between the mountaintops, making Slade wonder if the two summits hadn't been one mountain once, divided by for example, water weakening the softer minerals until the ground collapsed on its own or from an earthquake. He didn't know, he could only confirm that the nice, inviting valley it had seemed to be from afar, wasn't that nice and inviting in reality.

Slade quickly climbed up toward another outcrop, figuring that the more he could see of the surroundings, the better his chances were at spotting the enemy. In the craggy landscape there were many dead angles which both hid him but maybe also others. Slade moved as quietly as he could, studying every shadow and listening for any strange sounds.

Suddenly there was a rustling in front of him, and Slade saw a few pebbles roll down the hillside. He tensed and crept forward. There was an outcrop blocking his line of vision, and the man didn't know if he had been spotted earlier, coming this way.

Robin was closing in, though, and there was no time to be too careful. Slade threw himself forward, gripped the outcrop with one hand and swung around it. He landed softly on the edge of the ledge behind the rock, but not softly enough. He had alerted his target who drew back in surprise, staring at him.

Slade had managed to scare the poor lizard half to death.

"Just consider yourself lucky that you were not armed…" the man muttered when the animal seemed to scowl at him before slinking into a crack between two rocks. Slade felt somewhat foolish, he had to admit, and now his body was pumped up with adrenaline which had no place to go. He shook his head and moved on, hoping he wouldn't surprise a rattle-snake next.

* * *

Sounds created strange echoes in the valley, Robin discovered, as he scared a bird which flew up with a shrill cry. The sound had the teen's heart pounding very hard for several minutes, something he wasn't exactly proud of, but he _was_ very tense at the moment.

He thought he had spotted Slade at one time, which made him feel a bit better about the situation, but it was hard to make much out from this angle.

He found himself missing his jump-cord. That wasn't electronic, and if he had known that he would be crossing this kind of landscape, he would definitely have brought it. He would probably be half way on the other side by now, swinging through the air. There were plenty of crevices for the hook to stick in, and it would be so much fun, instead of trudging along. On the other hand, he might ruin the opportunity for the guy who was probably, right now, collecting rocks to push down on him.

A rattling sound alerted him to the presence of a snake, and Robin watched the beautiful but dangerous creature from a safe distance before making his way around it, trying not to agitate it any further. It seemed he had to watch the ground as much as the sky. He hit his staff a little bit harder into the earth with every step after that, hoping the vibrations would scare any other snakes away.

The shallow stream which had been his companion most of the morning created its own sounds. Despite the water there was very little vegetation, maybe because of the altitude or because the pass lacked sunlight most of the day. Some small shrubs and hardier mountain plants tried to find some nutrients among the rocks, however.

The sun was beating down now; perfectly positioned to toast a certain wingless bird. Robin stopped to apply some sunscreen, sensing his arms already starting to sting. Oh, the joy of hiking.

* * *

Slade had moved on after the little lizard-mishap, and now heard another sound. A click. Lizards, as far as the man knew, did not click. Birds didn't make noises like that either, unless they had metal beaks. Slade recognized it easily: a sniper-rifle being assembled.

Moving silently but quickly, the man soon saw the source of the sound; a man in khaki-colors, about sixteen feet below, and almost nine feet ahead. The man was lying down on a wide ledge and had just, as Slade had thought, finished assembling a rifle. He was now busy checking the aim. Slade glanced back. Robin had just rounded a corner, wiping his hands on his ass, for some reason, before reaching for the water-bottle at his hip.

The sniper tensed, and started to take aim. In just a few seconds Robin would be in the perfect line of fire.

Slade didn't stop to consider his next move; there simply wasn't time. He jumped. A split second later he landed on the man's back, crushing his spine, which made a horrible crouching sound.

"Guess we won't be able to get any answers from you," he muttered just as a gun-shot went off. And not from the dead man's rifle.

Slade's eye snapped up just in time to see Robin's body hit the ground.

_To be continued…._

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A/N: I'm not even going to stick around, I'm going to run like hell now… This story is just littered with damn cliffhangers, but hey, hopefully it means you'll drag yourself to the next chapter as well! Oh and the next… and the next… and then I think it's okay, but then the next after that… ;)

Where I'm writing right now, I'm starting to see the ending! I'm not quite there yet, but it's looming ahead… They are busy doing hand-written place-cards and stuff… What? Oh, I forgot, from now on the whole story just randomly cuts to Bruce and Rose's preparations for the wedding… this is a wedding-story after all… all the stuff in the forest? Nah, forget it, that was just filler… not very interesting, so I'm just not gonna continue that story-line.

Maybe I just lied to you.

We'll see.

;)

-runs-


	7. Waterloo

A/N: The phrase in the different foreign languages in this chapter has been translated with the help of several readers/friends. Thank you to **Haruna Galaxy de Yuy** for the Spanish, **Yasu **for the French and **CatrionaMalfoy** for the German! Thank you all those on Deviant Art who helped with the German, by the way, all your suggestions were probably great (how am I to judge?) but **CatrionaMalfoy's **fitted the best with the other translations, so I ended up using hers.

As always, thank you **Jayto**, for the beta-work!

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Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm

**Chapter 7: Waterloo**

_Previous chapter:_

_Slade didn't stop to consider his next move; there simply wasn't time. He jumped. A split second later he landed on the man's back, crushing his spine with a horrible crouching sound._

"_Guess we won't be able to get any answers from you," he muttered just as a gun-shot went off. And not from the dead man's rifle._

_Slade's eyes snapped up just in time to see Robin's body hit the ground._

_

* * *

_

A few moments earlier:

After applying the sunscreen, Robin dried his sticky hands off on his shorts and took a sip of water. Warm, purified water did not taste all that good, but it saved his life.

He didn't know if it was a movement or a sound, maybe a reflection or some color which didn't really fit in with the sandy browns and grays of the surrounding mountain-walls, but something made Robin look to his left, and he spotted the barrel a split second before the shot went off. He threw himself to the side, out of the way, but he wasn't fast enough, as a searing pain soon told him.

Knowing he couldn't stay where he was, as he was still in range, Robin rolled away just as a strange sound reached his ears. He glanced up and saw Slade coming down the cliff on his right, jumping more than climbing, in a way which would have broken a normal man's ankles many times over.

Apparently not caring about getting shot, the man rushed forward, picked Robin up and carried him to cover before the teen had had much time to consider where that might be.

"Are you hurt? Where?" the man growled like it was Robin's fault that he'd gotten shot. The teen struggled out of the grip and winced, glancing at his right shoulder.

"It only grazed me," he answered, shrugging off his backpack and studying the injury. "The heat from the bullet cauterized it so it's not even bleeding." he then looked up at the rock wall and narrowed his eyes. "Let's go get him!"

* * *

It was Slade's turn to not have time to react.

Robin, who had been shot just moments ago, who he had been sure was dead or at least seriously injured, grabbed that damn dead branch he had been carrying and practically ran up the side of the cliff.

Slade was strong and fast, but he had nothing on Robin when it came to climbing, that soon became rather apparent. With no backpack on to weigh him down and get in his way, the teen was in his element, and seemed to scale the rock effortlessly. Quickly heading for… an armed man… Slade shrugged his own packing off and hurried after the little hot-head.

* * *

Robin easily found holds that would carry his weight. He knew that the armed man or woman would be able to see him, as soon as he rounded the next outcrop, but he had climbed high up, counting on that he or she wouldn't expect him to come back from that angle, or expect him to come back at all…

After glancing quickly around the next rock, he grinned. He had spotted the shooter and the man, because it _was_ a man, was busy moving away from the scene, his back against the hero. Perfect.

Robin leapt from his spot and landed on a ledge, only to all but bounce off it to another one. He closed in on the retreating man fast and quietly, hooking his new staff into the crevices he couldn't reach himself to cross a few difficult points. As he got close, the shooter eventually heard him, though, and turned around, just in time to get the end of the branch in his face, knocking him over on the ledge. The man tried once to get up, rolling over on his stomach, but Robin hit him between the shoulder blades to keep him still.

"Oh, no you don't… Slade and I have a few questions," Robin growled.

The man in question just landed on the ledge next to him.

"You are in for several spankings now, just so you know…" Slade hissed.

"Hey, not in front of the perp!" Robin hissed back and turned to look down on the fallen man again, who was keeping still, face down, like a good little assassin. "Get up, hands where I can see them!" the teen barked.

The shooter didn't move.

"I said get _up_!" Robin growled and kicked at the man's foot. "Don't you speak English? Aufstehen! Debout! Levántate!" Robin then grabbed the perpetrator by his collar and pulled him up. A large red stain became visible under the shooter's head. "What the…?" Robin lost the heavy grip and the man's face hit the rocks once more. Slade stepped forward.

"He's dead," the mercenary said after only a moment.

"D-! But… I didn't hit him that hard! I didn't!" Robin claimed, almost a shrill tone in his voice.

"No… I doubt your stick could do this," Slade said and turned the man over. The shooter's lips seemed to have almost melted away, and there was a thick red foam frothing around his mouth. Robin took a step back.

"What… how…?" he stuttered.

"I don't know…" Slade muttered and crouched on the ledge.

Robin, swallowing the bile in his throat and resuming his professionalism, did the same.

"Don't touch him!" Slade warned as Robin reached out. "Not until we know what is going on here."

"I think I spotted something," the teen said and pointed to the man's hand. "Look. His ring. It's looks broken, doesn't it?"

The hand had been under the man's head and was covered by blood and goo, but Slade had to admit that the ring looked odd. The mercenary grabbed the dead man's hand and lifted it up.

"Hey, what about the 'no touching'?" Robin asked.

"For you. I'm pretty sure_ I'll_ be alright," the mercenary mumbled while studying the ring closely. "Yes… it used to have a rock or something… there's shards here…"

"A… suicide ring?" Robin asked.

"Looks like it, yes."

"Containing what? That must have hurt like hell!" the Titan almost whispered.

"And yet he didn't make a sound or even move… he was a professional… I'm impressed."

"Please don't use that tone, you sound like you are half in love with him," Robin snorted.

"Jealous?" Slade smirked.

"Nah… now I know all I have to do is kill myself quietly," the teen shrugged.

"I wonder if the other guy had one?" Slade said, clearly too preoccupied to continue down his partner's chosen path of conversation.

"The other guy? What other guy?" Robin blinked.

"Stay here. I'll be right back.

"Yeah, sure, I'll keep the creepy dead guy company," Robin muttered and watched Slade leap off the cliff.

* * *

Slade turned his victim over and checked his hands. Sure enough, the man had a ring too, a rather typical chunky male ring with a square stone which Slade now knew was neither glass or plastic, but looked like black obsidian. He carefully removed it from the man's finger, hoping he wouldn't trigger anything, and looked at it closely. It seemed to be a perfectly ordinary ring, besides it's deadly contents, and he couldn't see any kind of triggers on the inside, not even a makers stamp, although that might not be too surprising… who wants to advertise making death rings anyway?

Slade did a final test and tried to slide the ring on, although he had to put it on his pinky-finger for it to fit. Nothing happened. Good. He hadn't really expected anything to, but it was important to be prepared for all events.

Now it was time to go back, though, because Robin might become sulky if he was left alone with a corpse for too long.

* * *

"So, did that guy have a ring? And who the hell is he?" Robin asked.

"He did," Slade said and showed him his hand. He hadn't bothered to take it off, afraid it might break if he put it in a pocket. The 'stone' was clearly fragile enough to bite through quite easily, after all.

"Oh, yeah... so… are you two engaged now or what?" the teen smirked.

"He's dead," Slade pointed out, although Robin couldn't have been sure of that.

"So? You wanted to hook Rose up with Blood… You might have a thing for necrophilia…" Robin shrugged. "What did he die of, anyway?"

"Me."

"Yes, I figured_ that_ much…" Robin told him and rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"He was about to shoot you. I landed on him," the man explained.

"Ouch… and you're heavy enough when you're trying to make someone feel _good_," the teen winced. "Anyway, I've been busy, and I've found some of the poison, look at this!"

They crouched down again and Robin pointed to about a gram of white powder on the man's chest. "I found it under the inside rim of the ring and got it out with a twig… it doesn't seem to do much, though… I mean, look at the man's face, that stuff has been eating away at him!"

"It might need something to activate it… let's try this," Slade said and put a finger in his mouth gathering some saliva. He then let some of it drop down on the powder with immediate results.

"Holy acid, Batman!" Robin stared. "Man, it just… damn, that's gross!"

"Imagine what it does if you inhale it," the man nodded.

"I've never seen anything like it? Have you?" Robin asked.

"No… I have no idea what it is, but I'll bring this back for testing," the man said and indicated his own ring.

"Why though? It's a bit late for an antidote, isn't it?" Robin snorted.

"Because I want to _know_," Slade answered.

"Oh, yeah, right… you hate it when you don't," the young hero chuckled.

"Exactly," the man smirked.

"Well… then you won't be too happy now…" the teen let him know. "I found something else."

"What?"

"This," Robin said and pulled out a cell-phone. "It was in his pocket and it only has one number programmed, that's also the only registered number for both incoming and outgoing calls and messages."

"Give me a moment," Slade said and left the ledge.

"And again I'm alone with Mr. Dead guy. Lovely," Robin mumbled.

A few minutes later he almost jumped out of his skin as the phone in his hand vibrated. A text-message had been received and Robin read it eagerly, hoping to shed some light on the situation.

'_Hello sexy… looking for some action?'_

Robin stared at the screen. What the hell? Had the guy been so bored that he had had text-sex with someone? The phone vibrated again.

'_I think an armed man rates higher than a bear, don't you?'_

"Slade you bastard, come back here!" Robin called out, and thought he heard a chuckle in reply. Soon the man was back.

"As I thought, the number went to the other man's phone… there's nothing else?"

"No, I've been combing through everything… if I had a few gadgets I might be able to find something, but I doubt they had ever been used before now," Robin frowned. He shared Slade's need to find things out, after all.

"What did the messages say?"

"They were all focused on us, starting only today… like 'one target in sight, move to position.' I don't think we can learn much from them, but the main thing is the phones… that they have them at _all_, I mean…"

"Yes… it means that either they don't know about the item's sensibility, or they know something we don't," Slade mumbled.

"Like what?"

"I don't know… didn't get a chance to ask."

"Right…" Robin looked down on the dead man and shuddered. "Who _does_ that… commit suicide like that I mean?"

"The question about who _ordered_ them to might be a more interesting one," Slade said.

"Do you think he knew what the powder would do?"

"Probably."

"Shit, I would have just jumped off the cliff!" Robin exclaimed.

Slade looked down.

"Not far enough… he couldn't be sure he would die, and he probably didn't think he would have time…"

"Yeah, but still! Who wants to die like that?"

"Someone who has been carefully taught that the alternative is far worse," Slade said grimly.

"What? We wouldn't have killed him!" Robin objected. "Threaten to, yes… maybe a _little_ bit more, but…"

* * *

Slade shook his head and wondered how it was possible for the young man to still be so blue-eyed. Of course Slade would have killed that man. There was no need for his princess to know this, though; he would only get the hero-lecture again. And did Robin really think the guy would have answered their questions if they just had just asked nicely? Still, fear of_ them_ was probably not the cause for the suicide.

"This wasn't about what we might do; this was about what his _employer_ would do… He must have convinced these men that having their lungs eaten away was a much better option than failing."

"Oh… and it might be a she," Robin, the ever politically correct one, reminded him.

"Yes, poison is a female favorite after all, but that's mainly for murders I think… rather cowardly, I've always thought," Slade smirked.

"Tell that to Poison Ivy," Robin snickered.

"I did," Slade let him know. "She doesn't like me."

"Well, there are many people in _that_ club, after all…" Robin shrugged.

"Well, I prefer to keep my fan-club exclusive… Rose, you, and according to you, the guy under the bear… That's all I need," the man grinned.

* * *

Robin had to slide his glasses down so Slade could_ see_ him rolling his eyes.

"Sure, honey…" the teen smirked. "Now… speaking about what we need… should we take the cell-phones? The guns?"

"The cell phones most likely have GPS, so they stay here," Slade let him know. "The weapons might come in handy, but they are heavy and might just be in the way… But, sure…" Slade picked up a case. "Looks like he thought he got you since he put the gun away… hmm…"

"'Hmm' what?" Robin said and looked at the briefcase-sized steel case which the man had carried slung over his shoulder.

"Combination-lock. Five digits. That's a lot of combinations."

"I could crack it with a little time…" Robin said, "The question is if it's worth it?"

"No, we better move out of here," Slade said. "My guy couldn't possibly have locked his gun away though, on account of being dead. I'll go check on that. I'll meet you on the ground."

"'Your guy', huh?" Robin snorted. "Your relationship is getting sweeter and sweeter…"

"Well _he_ let me bang him… bang _into_ him, at least…"

"The slut!" Robin chuckled. "Okay, go see your boyfriend…"

"I love an open relationship…" the man chuckled and started climbing down.

"It's only open if the other person is dead!" Robin called after him, just to make things clear.

* * *

Robin had returned to ground-level and stood waiting by their packing as Slade returned empty handed but with a scowl on his face.

"Wasn't he in the mood?" the teen smirked.

"Watch it, princess," the man warned him with a snort. "You have no idea how much I want to hike up your skirt and spank you."

"Only spank?" the so-called princess pouted. "Well, if you didn't get blown off, why the sad?"

"Please stop talking teen at me," Slade snorted. "It was the rifle, I seem to have the worst luck with them. As I landed on the man I broke his spine, but it seems his heart didn't stop beating for a while, because he had bled all over the damn thing… it needs hours of cleaning and, even so, there wasn't much ammo."

"Ah. Damn your boyfriend…" Robin muttered.

"We have definitely broken up now," the man let him know with a smirk. "Well, I guess we'll go into this the noble, heroic way."

"How?" Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Being ridiculously under-armed and probably outnumbered, of course… isn't that the way you heroes _usually_ like to do things?"

* * *

"I wonder why he ran in the first place…" Robin said after a while. "You said that he probably thought he got me, but he must have seen you, right?"

"Maybe he saw where I was coming from too, and understood that he was in trouble… that even if he had killed you, I would be hunting him down soon," Slade suggested.

"But run? And pack away his rifle? Isn't that kind of stupid?"

"It is," the mercenary agreed. "Some people think that they are better than they are, however, and there's always a chance that he actually didn't see me."

"I would have at least checked to see if the person I shot was dead before leaving…" Robin muttered.

"I'm so glad. You'll make an excellent assassin one day," Slade grinned proudly.

The teen snorted and started to put his packing back on.

"We need to decide what to do."

"Yes… we also need to move, though," Slade reminded him. "We can't wait around here in case these people's friends show up."

"Right, but again, should we get out of here or continue?"

"I'd like to continue," Slade told him. "And for you to get out of here."

"Hey, what? Not gonna happen, this was my mission first!" Robin objected.

"I'm just telling you what I would like, I never expected you to comply," Slade sighed. "You don't seem to know what that word means."

"I'm stupid," the hero grinned.

"I know," the man chuckled.

"So are you, if you think it's a splendid idea to keep walking into traps," Robin pointed out.

"Well, I thought we should try to _avoid _that this time," the mercenary let him know.

"Fantastic idea. Or it would have been your turn to be the damsel in distress," the teen growled.

"Horrible thought," Slade snorted. "Well, you are not going to go home safely, then?"

"Nope." The teen shook his head.

"Fine. We'll continue to follow the map, but we don't have to stay away from red areas anymore obviously… if that box of yours ever was sensitive to anything the phones would have fried it. We'll try to find someone else to ask without, if possibly, killing them first, and if not… there's bound to be someone waiting for us at the end, at least I can meet up with my employer and tell them it was a ghost chase."

Robin unfolded the map.

"Show me where."

"What where?" Slade said, having been deep in thought about other things.

"Where are you going to meet them, and when?"

"The day after tomorrow, around mid day, right here," the man said and pointed to a place half way out in the wasteland on the other side of the mountains.

"But that's not far away from my meeting-spot!" Robin objected.

"It doesn't have to be… I was supposed to kill you, remember? It's not like we would be running into each other."

"Yes, but the different groups… if they spot each other…?" Robin was not completely convinced. "And as I understood it, I was going to take it to a new lab."

"I think my employer can handle a group of nerds… maybe they have taken over the lab too?"

"Who_ is_ your employer? Anyone I know?"

"No, not even any I know, really. A contact of mine arranged it all."

"Yes, because blind dates usually work out just great…" Robin snorted.

"I generally only deal personally with the bigger bosses, and this was only a delivery after all… practically a vacation," Slade defended himself. "You trust Shield and Shift, don't you?"

"Of course I do! Although I might have a talk with them after this and they will owe me _so_ big…" the teen added the last part in a mutter.

"I'd like to have a word with them too," Slade snorted. "Well, the time is ticking. I don't want to be stuck in here in the dark."

"Same here, but there is the ambush-factor, remember?"

"Funnily enough I do remember," Slade said flatly. "I suggest that we follow the wall-route, like I did, but on either side, so we can cover both areas."

"Won't that take longer, though?" Robin objected.

"Any better ideas?" Slade asked, not in a condescending way, but clearly willing to listen.

Robin thought it over but then shook his head.

"No. Climbing higher would take even more time, and if we are lucky the ledges will be of help."

"Well then. Let's go," the man headed towards his side of the pass and turned around. "See you on the other side."

"I think you just jinxed us…" Robin muttered.

* * *

Robin had been climbing for an hour and he had finally gotten used to his back-pack. It helped that it was a lot lighter now, after Slade had gotten rid of everything that wasn't absolutely necessary. The wound on his shoulder still hurt now and then, but the pain he had first felt had only been temporary.

He had been very focused, however, and when he looked down on the ground he blinked, feeling that something was missing. He couldn't figure out what, for a moment, but then it came to him; the stream was gone. Robin checked the map and discovered that, yes; it originated from the mountain, probably running from a crack in the rock, half a mile or so on Slade's side.

The problem was that he had forgotten to fill his water-bottle. He cursed himself for his own stupidity. The stream had just been there the whole day, and he had put it off. He still had water, but not nearly enough not to be thirsty by the time they had gotten through the valley. He shrugged. There wasn't much he could do about it, and hopefully Slade had more.

The pass got irregularly wider and narrower, and when it was narrow enough the couple was close enough to be able to talk with each other without raising their voices. They kept the same pace and help to look out for each other, but so far they had seen nothing.

Robin had almost started to relax, thinking the shooters were the 'last resources' so to speak, but then he spotted something under a big overhang.

He crept closer and his suspicions were confirmed.

As this was a narrow part Robin whistled to get Slade's attention, as the man was slightly in front of him now. The sound was so much like a bird's that people not listening for it would think it was, at least that's what the teen hoped.

Slade turned around and headed back towards him.

"What is it?" he asked in a low tone.

"Explosives," Robin mouthed and pointed. "There's a trip-wire, leading down."

"Climb around and let's move on faster," Slade told him.

"We can't leave this here, what about other hikers?" Robin objected.

"You are not disarming a bomb in the middle of nowhere without any tools!"Slade hissed.

"But we _can't_-" Robin tried again.

"Very well…" Slade snorted. "We'll set it off."

_To be Continued…_

* * *

A/N: Ta-da! Not a cliffy! Well… not a REAL cliffy, just an end to the chapter! The NEXT chapter though… ;)


	8. Gimme Gimme Gimme

**A/N: **And here is chapter 8! Thank you **Jayto**, as always! And I'm actually not goanna rant on and on here… I'm just gonna let you read! I'm THAT nice! Now REMEMBER that when you get to the end, okay?

**

* * *

**

Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm

**Chapter 8: Gimme Gimme Gimme**

"Set it off?" Robin repeated dumbly.

"Yes?" Slade looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"As in blow it up?"

"Obviously."

"Well, won't that alert people to- oh."

"Yes, and, again, you don't have the tools to disarm it safely," Slade reminded him.

"Do we have the tools to set it _off_ safely?" Robin muttered.

"Of course. Your aim and a rock," Slade grinned.

* * *

A little while later the teen was weighing a jagged, flat piece of rock in his hand, trying to judge how hard he had to throw it to hit the invisible line stretched across the pass far in front of him.

Slade had come over to Robin's side of the pass, and they had taken off all their gear for now. They were far enough away from the explosives to not be in any danger, but Robin could still detonate the thing from here, he hoped. He still refused to just leave it be, since it was such a deadly trap.

He couldn't see the target, the wire, from this distance, but Slade had climbed down before and pointed out where it was attached, and Robin hadn't let the spot go with his eyes since then.

"You can always try again, you know," the man pointed out behind him, chuckling at Robin's determined look. "You can throw rocks at that thing all day."

"I don't miss," Robin snorted and let the crude weapon fly.

The explosion wasn't that spectacular as it had, which Slade had pointed out to the teen, been expertly set up so that it was mainly contained to the overhang. Anyone tripping on the wire would not have made it away in time, though, probably not even Slade and Robin.

The noise still made Robin's ears ring a little bit as it echoed around him and a dust cloud rose, spreading high and wide.

_Well, I was THINKING they might be using smoke-signals…_ Robin coughed. He was pulled further into a crevice Slade had found to keep them hidden, out of the way from most of the cloud.

Robin felt pebbles, hardly bigger than grains of sand, raining down on him now, after they had been flung high up into the air by the explosion. He was facing the rock and Slade's body covered his where they stood, protecting him from larger debris, Robin assumed. Until the man kissed his neck.

"Slade?"

"Hmm?" the man hummed and circled his arms around the hero's body, while nibbling at Robin's ear, something which made the teen's knees a little weak.

"What the hell are you doing?" Robin's voice was still soft, almost disbelieving, like he was sure that it was all just a misunderstanding.

"Well, we _do_ have to wait for someone to come here… might be hours," the man pointed out with a chuckle.

"Might be _minutes_, their headquarters could be just around the next bend!" Robin growled.

"I'm sure we'll have time," Slade dismissed his objection. His hands, when he wanted them to, could drive Robin crazy, even if they were still on top of the teen's clothes and not touching any naughty areas. When one hand grabbed his hip, though, yanking it back toward the man's groin in a very obvious way, Robin grabbed the man's wrist.

"What about being in the mood, then?" he reminded his insistent lover.

"I'll get you there," Slade promised.

"As I have told you, I don't _want_ to 'get there'!" Robin hissed and tried to turn away, something that he soon found was impossible as he was caged in by both Slade and the whole mountain. Robin had a feeling the mountain might just be easier to convince to move.

"And why not? The game is over… none of us won," Slade reminded him. "Or, if you prefer it, _you_ won. I won't take the box to my employers. You may take it to yours."

"Because it's empty and worthless!" Robin snorted.

"Exactly."

"You are just too much," Robin sighed.

"You know I'm not," Slade chuckled and ran a hand over Robin's ass. "Just almost."

"Stop. Groping. Me."

"You can't keep being angry with me _forever_," Slade pointed out.

"Try me," Robin muttered.

"I am. Constantly," the man chuckled again, the sound going straight to the teen's groin.

Robin gasped as Slade turned him around by his shoulders and kissed him. His head spun as the man barely let him breathe between kisses. A part of him thought that Slade was right; they weren't opponents anymore, after all, but another part, a very stubborn one, still thought that Slade just didn't _deserve_ this quite yet.

As if the man had read Robin's mind, he pulled away just a little.

"You could have died today. Again. No more games, Robin. I won't allow it." The man kissed him again, so violently that Robin felt like he was in a battle. A knee was pushed in between the teen's legs, and, gasping, Robin spread them to make room, while Slade's hands supported his ass, holding him up. Soon Robin had his legs wrapped around the man's hips as they were grinding against each other and tearing at their shirts. Robin thought nothing would be able to distract him until he heard a buzzing of an insect. A weird-sounding insect.

"Slade, what's that?" he gasped.

"There's no way in hell you could have forgotten what _this_ is…" the man growled playfully and pushed harder against him. "But I'll remind you."

"No, that! The sound!"

"That? That's just-" Slade stopped to listen and then burst out in an uncharacteristically long row of curses, before letting Robin go.

The teen heard the noise better now as well and cocked his head, trying to sort out the echoes from the true sound.

"It's a car!" he exclaimed, hurriedly pulling his clothes into better order.

"It's a Jeep Wrangler," Slade said as he looked out from their hiding-place.

"It's already in sight?" Robin asked, coming to look as well.

"No."

Robin blinked up at the man but then shrugged. If Slade said he could tell by the sound, he could.

"Can you hear what color it is too?" the teen grinned.

"No. But, on the other hand, it's probably because I never saw the point in learning how," the man smirked down at him. "If you suddenly hear an engine coming up behind you it _is _rather useful to be able to tell if it can follow you off-road."

"I guess," Robin shrugged. "They haven't been able to make any which can follow across _roofs _yet, though, so I never bothered…"

The man snorted at him and continued to listen.

"It will be here any moment. We'll wait to see if they get out of the vehicle before we attack. Remember to make sure to watch for rings."

"Remember to make sure not to kill anyone yourself," Robin muttered, just as the car appeared around the bend.

"I can't promise that. I'm rather annoyed at them for their lousy timing," the man growled, making Robin snicker.

There were four men in the car, a Jeep Wrangler, just as Slade had said. A military green one, and, as Robin pointed out to the mercenary in a whisper; he really _should_ have been able to hear _that_ color. Slade snorted at him again.

The car stopped almost right below their hiding-spot, at a safe distance from the rubble, and the men got out. One of them had rifle in his hands, but after a wave from what Robin assumed was the guy in charge, he left it in the car. They obviously didn't expect trouble.

They were dressed in camouflage-gear just like the others had been, but the clothes didn't really look like uniforms; there were too many individual differences. Robin couldn't spot any type of logo or marks that connected the men either, they reminded him very much of four guys in their late twenties or early thirties who had decided to go hunting or fishing that morning, and had just put on what they considered appropriate outfits. Hell, he saw guys like this in the mall too, and would never look twice… well… if the guy wasn't really built… and Slade wasn't anywhere close by… just_ looking_ never hurt. Unless Slade caught him. Robin was pretty sure he'd get spanked. The man never like it when he lost Robin's full atten-

"Ow!" Robin hissed and caressed his ass, which was smarting and probably had a red hand-print on it now.

"Pay attention," Slade growled.

Robin's eyes snapped back to the scene.

Two of the men had climbed up the side to check the detonation-point, maybe to see if the bomb had gone off as planned. The other two were poking around in the debris, trying to find evidence of bodies.

"They seem to want to make sure, anyway…" Robin mumbled.

"Yes. I'm touched," Slade commented dryly. "You take the ones up the side, and I'll take the ones below. Deal?"

"Deal," Robin nodded and gripped his staff. He didn't like it; attacking people like this. The other guy, well, he_ had_ shot him. He had it coming, in a way, although not quite that harshly, perhaps. Robin's stomach was still feeling a bit unsettled at the thought.

These new guys were obviously on the same let's-make-life-difficult-for-Robin team, but he was nervous about the attack in case he couldn't reach them before they did that horrible ring-thing…

"Concentrate on at least getting one alive, if you can't get both," Slade-the-mind-reader said.

"I'm not going to let more people die!" Robin hissed.

"It's _their_ choice in that case," Slade reminded him. "Just try to take that choice away."

"Let's stop the philosophical part and get to the action," Robin snorted.

"Impatient as always, princess? Well, all right. Go get them," Slade grinned.

The sun was drenching the other side of the pass now, leaving theirs in shadow, and the pair left the crevice as quietly as they could, trying to get as close as possible to their targets without being discovered.

Robin kept his eyes on his targets. He knew he wouldn't be able to take them completely by surprise, but then, just as the men were about to discover him, he got an idea. He glanced down in Slade's direction, but the man had disappeared out of sight for now.

As his enemies spotted him, Robin's frame crumpled and he leaned heavily on his tree-branch, dragging a leg behind him as he swayed on the narrow ledge. The men were only a little further above him and quickly made their way closer.

"Hey! You!" one of them shouted, getting their colleague's attention as well.

"Help… me…" Robin rasped and fell down on one knee.

Yes, it was a dirty trick, but if he didn't appear to be attacking them, they wouldn't see him as a threat. He hoped they wouldn't question why Robin would be here, half way up the mountainside, instead of lying crushed under the pile of rocks, but the men didn't seem to be worried about that fact. The teen kept a close eye on them, however, from behind his sunglasses, making sure they weren't smart enough to just draw a gun and finish him off. They weren't.

It soon became clear that they weren't going to waste time asking questions either. As soon as they were close enough, Robin saw the first of them prepare to simply kick him off the ledge. Very impolite. A shout from below to 'finish him off' only urged his opponents on. Robin tightened his grip on the branch and waited for the perfect moment, hoping Slade would as well.

The hero and the mercenary, as it had been proved so many times before, worked well together. They both attacked at the same time, and Slade didn't have any trouble as his targets were busy looking up at the show Robin provided.

The mercenary smirked at the 'wounded bird' act, but it was very effective.

Robin's staff hit one man on the side of his head just hard enough to stun him a little, while he blocked the kick from the other man. The teen then grabbed both of them and slammed their heads into the mountainside. As he struggled to keep the unconscious men on the ledge, he looked back at Slade, who was already tying up his quarry, both of them also unconscious by the look of it.

"A little help here?" Robin shouted.

"With what?" Slade called back.

"Well, I can't just throw the both of them over my shoulder and climb down with them!" Robin pointed out.

"Oh, just drop them. It's not that far," the mercenary shrugged.

"_Slade_…" Robin's voice was of the no nonsense flat variety.

"All right," the man sighed, giving up.

* * *

After a bit of manipulation all four men were on the ground and tied up with Slade's rope.

"How hard did you hit yours?" Slade asked.

"They will be coming around any moment now. You?" Robin asked the man back.

"The same. I'm gentle when I'm curious," Slade smirked, making Robin chuckle out loud.

"So you were never curious about me?"

"Oh, yes. Still am," the man smirked, making Robin shiver pleasantly.

A low groan from one of the men cut the flirting-session short, however.

"Shh! They are coming to!" Robin hissed.

"Shh?" Slade blinked in confusion. "Don't you _want_ to wake them up?"

"Yes, but maybe not to you describing my ass," Robin huffed.

"I _wasn't_," the man pointed out.

"Oh, I know you, and you were only _moments_ away," the teen snorted.

"Now they got to wake up to _that_ little talk instead. How lovely for them," Slade chuckled and looked down on the prisoners who were, Robin discovered with a sense of dread, really awake now.

The four of them looked a little dazed and were struggling against the ropes, but they quickly seemed to understand the situation.

"Hello, I'm Slade. I'll be your interrogator this afternoon," the mercenary smirked, but his eye was deadly cold.

Robin looked at the men who were glaring back at them.

"Should we start with a presentation and then move on to why you are here and who sent you?" the teen suggested. "Oh, and I'm not going to hurt you, but I don't think I can stop Slade. I'm a tiny little thing after all, and it's so painful to annoy him… you will see that too, unless you start talking."

"You are so sweet," the teen's partner chuckled at him.

"I know, that's why I can't torture people. They are all yours," Robin declared and gestured to their prisoners. He wouldn't let Slade go too far, but it wouldn't hurt if the men thought he would… and that he was just a little bit crazy as well.

He stood back while Slade started to civilly ask a few questions. Studying the men's faces was fascinating but unnerving. They didn't look scared of Slade. They were clearly not happy about their situation, but they had an expression of almost superiority… their eyes were… somewhat fanatical. Something was off here, Robin knew it. The teen tensed, trying to take in as many details as possible, and he noticed the small movements of one man's jaw, and then the next and the next, like they were all chewing very small bubble-gums or something.

"Slade…" Robin said slowly. "Slade, something's wrong!"

He just uttered the words when the first man fell to the ground in convulsions, followed shortly by his three brothers-in-arms. In only moments four pairs of eyes were staring rigidly at nothing at all.

Robin heard Slade swear, but the teen stumbled away from the scene and started to throw up. They had been careful! The men weren't supposed to be hurt! After he had nothing more left in his stomach, not even bile, Robin spat and rinsed his mouth thoroughly. Only then did he realize that he had just used up the last of his water.

When he made his way back to Slade he tried not to feel ashamed of himself. He'd seen worse, and recently too. The shooter's face had not been a pretty sight, and at least he hadn't actually killed these men with his own hands… but it was just too much. He avoided looking at the bodies, but Slade just rose to his feet after checking the last one.

"They all had one false tooth. It could be dislodged by the tongue, with some force, and I'm guessing that when it was swallowed and came in contact with the stomach acids, poison was released."

"So… not the same as the rings?"

"No, but same principle; don't get caught."

"Did they have rings too?"

"No. If I had to venture another guess- and I _hate _guessing- I'd say that rings were for new or temporary recruits and the tooth-implants for the higher ranks," Slade muttered, clearly disgusted with the whole situation.

"Yeah… I guess you don't drag just anyone to the dentist for that kind of thing…" Robin tried to say lightly, but his stomach still churned. "Hey, do you have more water?"

"Check the car."

Slade was frowning at the men like he expected them to wake up, apologize, and start talking. If they had been able to see that look they might just have done that.

The man was fuming, angrier than Robin had seen him in a long time, if ever, but the teen knew that Slade wasn't mourning the men's deaths, only their lack of answers.

As he wanted to get away from there and focus on something else, the teen did as Slade had suggested and slunk away to the car. He was in luck, as he found a cooling-compartment with four large unopened bottles of water. His favorite brand too. He grinned and opened one, enjoying the first really cool drink he'd had in days, and one which didn't taste weird from purifying chemicals to boot.

There was food as well, but it was clear the men had not packed to stay out over night. Still, the four submarine sandwiches wrapped in clear plastic made Robin's appetite come back. He briefly wondered if he should feel guilty for stealing dead men's food, but the fresh salad, meats and pieces of cheese poking out from between the wonderfully golden brown pieces of bread were just too good to resist. He grabbed them all, as well as two bottles of water, and called Slade over. Eating dead people's food was bad enough, but it was positively _rude_ to do it in _front_ of them.

"I bet this cheers you up?" Robin grinned at the man and tossed him two of the sandwiches.

"Who am I? Beast Boy?" Slade muttered but stalked over to the shade and sat down to eat. Robin joined him, settling on the ground next to Slade and bumped his shoulder against the man's arm.

"Cheer up, will you? You're scary when you're pissed off."

"Didn't mean to frighten you, princess." The man's grin was a little bit weak, but it was better than the scowl.

"You are, I'm shivering just from you looking at me," Robin smirked.

"That's not _fear_," Slade claimed with a much smugger grin.

"No?" Robin asked and gave the man a very innocent look over the rim of his sunglasses. "Well, maybe I'll let you demonstrate the difference later. Now… fooooood!" He ripped the plastic of the first sandwich and tried to fit half of it in his mouth at once. "MMMMmmmMMM! Chicken! And tomato… and the cheeeeeeeeeese! Ahhhhh…. Gaaaawd…"

"Seems you won't _need_ a demonstration, but maybe a change of underwear…" the man snorted and took a bite of his own.

Robin grinned around his mouth-full and continued to make noisy love to his dinner. It made Slade chuckle and himself forget the situation for a while. After finishing up both of his subs, which made Robin feel very full and sated, it was time to return to reality, however.

"Let's go see what they left us besides food," Slade suggested.

Robin reluctantly got to his feet and followed the man to the jeep. There were four rifles, the two remaining bottles of water, a standard emergency-kit and not much else.

"At least we can drive out of here," Slade shrugged and Robin's eyes lit up. No more walking? Great!

"Wait, what about other wires?"

"Well, they drove _here_, I doubt that they stopped to disarm any," the man pointed out.

"Right…" Robin chuckled and rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Wow, check out that dashboard!"

The car looked normal enough from the outside, but it definitely had some special features installed as there were several small screens in front of the driver-seat as well as a whole row of buttons. Robin pushed one and a small number key-pad popped out.

"Don't play," Slade told him. "Go get our packing instead, and I'll go check which one of the corpses has the keys."

Robin, who was just grateful that he didn't get _that _job, nodded and climbed up to the crevice to get their backpacks. They returned to the car almost at the same time and Slade sat down behind the wheel. Robin, giddy with the prospect of just actually getting to rest up while moving, hung over the front seat to stuff their things into the back.

"I like your ass like that," Slade smirked as the man put his seatbelt on.

"You like my ass any which way," Robin pointed out.

"True. But up in the air like that is a favorite position of mine…" the mercenary chuckled and turned the key.

Instead of the normal engine-sounds, a series of beeps drew Robin's attention, and they both looked at one of the screens which had lit up, showing a row of blank squares. The number pad he had found before was right below it and had lit up as well.

"A… code?" Robin asked and the annoying beeping sound sped up a notch.

"Robin?" Slade said tensely.

"Yeah?"

"Get out. Get out _now_!"

There were some orders you just obeyed. No thinking it over, no questions asked. Robin leapt from the car and managed to get far enough away to throw himself behind a boulder as the world behind him went up in flames.

The explosion was massive, much bigger than the one they had triggered before. Robin felt the heat from it even from when he was taking cover, and the ground shook.

Robin raised his head.

"Slade?"

Suddenly he remembered a sound. The click of Slade's seatbelt.

"SLADE!"

There was no reply.

_To Be Continued…_

* * *

A/N: I know I should run, but I'm not! I'm too happy! Yesterday I finished and sent off the KEY chapter of this story to my beta Jayto! Okay, she might still get back to me and tell me it sucks, but hey… it's written! And it's a few chapter ahead, so don't expect it next week… ;) I'm soooooo happy I finally got it down on paper… well… _electronic_ paper, because somehow I'm always afraid the story will disappear before it's written… and now it won't… so you WILL find out what's going on… with or without Slade… ;)


	9. Lay All Your Love On Me

**A/N: **Well, ff is still a bit fucked up, I think but hopefully you'll get to read this anyway… ;) THIS IS A DAY EARLY! Why? Because I just got coerced into going on a day-trip tomorrow and we leave kinda early, so, if I oversleep, I don't want to worry about starting up my computer as well… but I don't think you mind that much… ;)

The gods are against me at the moment, since I have problems posting both here and on dA, but I seem to manage in the end anyway… ;)

People have half-panicked when they have heard that I have only two chapters left to write; don't worry, there's more chapters for you to READ… This story will be 15 chapters long, if nothing unexpected happens.

Now get on with it… I know you want to find out if I burnt Slade's hair off… ;)

**

* * *

**

Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm

**Chapter 9: Lay All Your Love On Me**

"Slade!" Robin called again and hurried around the boulder he had sought shelter behind. He stopped in shock. Where the car had stood there was something which almost looked like a shallow crater, and nothing of the debris, which was spread out in the narrow pass, even looked _remotely _like car-parts anymore.

"Slade?"

Robin knew the mercenary was fast. Extraordinarily, meta-human fast. And with all of his abilities combined he should be okay. He was probably going to stroll around an outcrop at any moment.

The teen walked carefully among the rubble. Some of it was on fire and most of the things that weren't, were still scolding hot. There was nothing around him that was even close to big enough to be a human being, and Robin didn't want to look at the smaller parts in case… in case…

And then he saw it. An arm. Just an arm. Robin threw a hand over his mouth, but then something made him look closer. It was too slim. Too slim to be Slade's.

"Thank god… SLAAAAADE!" he called, stopping to discover where the arm had come from. In the explosion, part of the front of the car had been flung away and torn through the corpses of the four men. There wasm't much left. Robin hoped he wouldn't have to do a very macabre jig-saw puzzle to make sure Slade wasn't among them.

There was no way the man could have followed him, the teen decided, so he must have run another way.

"SLAAADE!"

Calling out helped. Calling out gave him the hope that there would be an answer… but that hope diminished a little after each time.

Then, among the rubble from the first explosion, he finally saw something. A pair of feet, thankfully attached to legs, and, he discovered when he quickly climbed the small hill of rocks, a complete body. Slade.

Robin drew in a deep breath which sounded a lot like a sob as he sank to his knees next to the immobile body. There was a lot of blood.

Part of the man's hair was red and pink, but his left leg seemed to be the worst wounded; a large piece of metal was sticking out of the upper thigh.

"Slade? Slade can you hear me?" Robin pressed his fingers to the man's neck. Another breathy sob escaped as he felt a pulse. At that moment the man moved a little and grunted.

"Stay still, Slade, you're hurt," Robin told him gently.

"Can feel that…" his lover muttered. "My leg…"

"There's a piece of shrapnel in it…" Robin explained.

"Get it out."

"But the bleeding? I-"

"_Get it out_. I won't be able to heal properly unless it's out."

Robin took a deep breath and moved into a better position. He had stabbed Slade's chest with a syringe once, to help inflate his lung, but this was a hell of a lot messier.

He grabbed the large, jagged piece of metal. It felt warm under his touch and it seemed to pulse with the rest of the leg. Robin braced himself and pulled. The shrapnel barely moved, and Slade grunted in pain.

"It's… it's in the bone," the teen said, his face pale.

"Then pull harder," the mercenary suggested.

Robin did, but at first it didn't seem to help.

"You have to bend it, crack the bone… it's stuck," the man told him through gritted teeth.

The sound as Robin, carefully as he could, twisted the metal, made an icy feeling running up his spine, but, finally, the shrapnel was out. The wound gushed blood, but only for a moment, thanks to Slade's healing-ability. It still looked horrible, though, gaping open and burned from the heat of the metal. Robin thought he could see splinters of bone in it.

The teen reached for his water-bottle to clean it, but found it empty and cursed. He searched the man's belt for his bottle instead, but it was gone.

"Your water… where is it?"

"I'm not completely sure that I have all my internal organs left. Trust me, I don't care about the water," Slade muttered.

"But I… have to clean it!" Robin objected.

"No, you don't. I'll heal," Slade told him. "Might be a while with a shattered leg, though…" then the man lifted himself up on his elbows. "Are _you_ alright?"

Robin felt the man's eye studying every inch of him.

"Yes, yes, not a scratch," he reassured him.

"Good. Quite an explosion," Slade commented. "I thought I had a little more time… surprise, surprise…"

"Yeah… I wouldn't mind a _fun_ one for once, though…" Robin muttered. "This is bad enough… but I'm glad it didn't hit higher."

"That would be horrible for you, wouldn't it, princess?" the man grinned.

"Your hip idiot!" Robin hissed. "It could have shattered your hip! Walking will be hard enough anyway."

"It will… speaking about that, I'll need something to stabilize the leg for a while."

"I'm on it!" Robin said at once and went off to see what he could find.

The ropes binding the men were messy but mostly undamaged. It was harder to find something straight enough to use for splints, however, but Robin collected whatever he could find.

When he returned to Slade, the man had managed to sit up slightly, and torn the remains of his trouser-leg off to study the wound better.

"Oh, I like you in short-shorts…" Robin grinned. "You should do the other leg too!"

"Stop perving on me, princess, I'm injured," the man snorted but then smirked, a little smugly.

Robin chuckled and shook his head.

"Slade saying no? Really? Never thought I'd see the day; you're always so easy."

"Watch it, little hero, or I'm going to cut _you_ off," Slade growled.

"You are only saying that because you're in pain… You'll be up and groping me in no-time," Robin grinned.

"And you'll love it."

"Yes, I will. Now, let me cause you lots and lots of pain… we need to fix that leg somehow, before people with exploding motorcycles come by."

They _did_ need to hurry. The explosion could have alerted more people, or the car might have sent an automatic alert somewhere before it exploded. There were many reasons, and they both knew it, so they didn't bother discussing any details for now. Robin felt one thing more than any other though; they were trapped. Scaling the walls was out of the question, they only had two ways to go, and their enemies could be closing in on them from both directions right at this moment.

"Okay, I've found this. Any good?" Robin asked and laid out the debris and rope for Slade to inspect.

"Rope? Damn, I wanted you to rip your t-shirt…" the man smirked.

"Why- Oh. I thought you were in too much pain for perving?" the teen rolled his eyes.

"_Never_. I just played the weak card for sympathy. Didn't do me any good, did it?"

"Nope," Robin grinned. He couldn't help feeling like he wanted to laugh, despite the situation. He had started to doubt that he would find the man alive, and if Slade had told him that him stripping, smearing himself with blood and doing the can-can would make the man happy right now, Robin would do it in a second.

Slade looked at the things the hero had brought and started chuckling.

"What is it?" the teen asked, a bit hurt. Were all the things _that_ useless?

"I seem to have the worst luck with rifles…" the mercenary half sighed, half chuckled, and held up the charred remains of a pipe.

"Oh… I didn't even see that that's what it was… it's somewhat straight, though," Robin said.

"Yes, it will do fine. Metal is a bit heavy, of course, but with no trees around…"

"Yeah, well, I'm not going to chop up the remains of the men down there to use their thigh-bones…" Robin mumbled.

"That's a brilliant idea!" Slade let him know, but after meeting the teen's eyes, the man shrugged. "But I won't put you through that, of course."

"Thank you."

"Still, very good idea."

"Thank you."

"If it was me-"

"Yes, I know. Let's tie these metal-things to your leg," Robin muttered. He didn't want to think about what Slade might do if their roles had been reversed.

It took some time to get the leg fixed, and even longer to get down from the pile of rubble. Robin noticed the man gritting his teeth, but that was more or less it. If it had been him with a smashed thigh, Robin doubted he would even be conscious.

* * *

Slade tried to shut the pain out. Having healing-abilities didn't mean he felt the pain any less; only that it usually didn't last quite as long. This was bad, though. The bone in his leg was shattered, and there was no time to just keep still and let it heal. The injury put Robin in danger, and the man cursed himself for not being faster. If he hadn't been unlucky enough to be hit, he would have made it, but he didn't like to rely on luck. He used to have less of a problem with that, but, he had to admit, having Robin by his side changed that.

He looked out over the site and tried to understand why someone would stuff a car full with enough explosives to demolish a building.

"They really didn't want us to have that jeep, huh?" Robin said, like he had read the man's mind.

"Seems like it," Slade nodded. He had just realized that the lack of a car and his injured leg was not their real concern here. He glanced down at Robin and wondered if the teen had realized the same thing.

* * *

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Robin mumbled as he took in the scene as well.

"A little bit," Slade concurred.

"All our packing… the water, the food, the maps… You don't have a map on you, do you?"

"No," Slade said after patting his pockets. "What _do _we have?"

"One water bottle, which is empty," Robin said. "I have matches, the fucking box, a pen, a few water purification-tablets, paper-napkins, a small bottle of sunscreen and a pocket-knife… that's more or less it. You?"

"My water bottle is missing… I think I put it down next to the driver's seat because it was in the way…" Slade said. "I have a knife, a lighter, some trail mix, two energy-bars and a few wet-wipes."

"Great, we can build a stealth plane with this…" Robin muttered and got a snort from Slade. "At least you have some food. Not that I'm hungry. Good thing we ate before we got in the car, huh?"

"Yes, it will help, I'm sure," the man nodded. "It helps my healing too. From here it doesn't look like there's much to salvage?"

"No, it's all pretty much melted or in atoms," Robin sighed.

"Then be better move."

"Which way? Back or forwards?" the teen asked.

"We know there's water if we go back…" Slade said and eyed the pile he had just climbed down hesitantly. "But in that case I have to send you back alone."

"No deal!" Robin growled. "Besides, I only have one water-bottle and one bottle of water might not make that much of a difference."

"It might make all the difference," Slade stated. "But I thought your hero-genes would make it difficult for you to see reason…" he added with a grin. "If I remember the map correctly, and I do, there should be another body of water, the size of a large pond, after we exit this ravine."

"That's good…" the teen sighed in relief. "What about… I mean… what should we _do_ now?"

"What do you want to do?" the mercenary asked, studying his partner carefully.

"Get out of here." Robin saw the disgusted look on Slade's face and continued, "I _know_ you hate the idea of turning tail, but come _on_! You are seriously injured, we have no provisions, and the guys looking for us have exploding cars! Really, Slade, it's idiotic to go on! There are no lives on the line except ours, so what are we fighting for here?"

"Perhaps. We can't very well just pick up the phone and call for a taxi, though," the man shrugged.

"No… but we need to try to move away from this area, at least… Do you think you can manage?" Robin asked Slade with a worried look.

"I have to, don't I?" the mercenary snorted.

"Oh, I just remembered! Wait here!"

"I'm not running anywhere quite yet…" Slade muttered, and watched as Robin scaled the wall where he had fought the two men.

In only a few moments Robin returned and flourished the tree-branch.

"I completely forgot about this. You can lean on it… or should we break it and re-splint the leg with it?"

"No, the branch is a bit too thick and not very straight. It will do well as a crutch, though," Slade said and tried it out. "How come it's undamaged?"

"Well, I didn't feel the need to pack a branch into a car full of guns, so…" Robin smirked. "And you can lean on me too…" Robin grinned.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Slade snorted.

"I'd love it," the hero chuckled.

"Well, come on… let's go. We have a wedding to attend."

* * *

It was slow, and the Titan could tell Slade was in a lot of pain. He didn't comment, though, especially as the man did his best to hide it.

Robin scouted ahead at each turn, his ears listening hard for anything out of the ordinary. They kept mostly quiet, not because they thought they could hide from any unseen attackers, but because there wasn't much to talk about. At least not many_ fun_ things.

Robin could see the car's tracks clearly in the dust, and that calmed him about any threat of tripping-wires or even mines. These people were obviously crazy, so he wouldn't put anything past them.

The sun was slowly sinking lower, and soon the pass was mostly in shadow. Robin shivered.

"Should we stop and rest?" he suggested.

"No, we need to get out of here today, or we won't make it to the rendezvous-point in time… It's not that far, but we might need most of the day tomorrow if my leg won't start healing faster," the mercenary decided.

Robin nodded. He didn't want to argue that if Slade stayed still and rested it might be better for his leg, because he had a feeling that the last thing the man wanted was mothering. And about mothering…

"Rose will kill me if I bring you back limping…" he groaned.

"Bruce would for the other way around too…" Slade grinned. "And, as soon as I'm better, I'll make sure to make it true…"

"I'm sure you will…" Robin snorted. "But we really, really need to find someplace to wash first… not that I don't like you with pink hair," he added with a smirk.

The man touched the back of his head and snorted.

"Well, at least that wound has healed."

"There's nothing in there, right? You're not walking around with a head full of shrapnel?"

"No, it was just a scrape, nothing more," the man shrugged.

Robin gave him a disbelieving look but then nodded.

"I'm going to run ahead again. I'll be back soon."

"Don't exert yourself," Slade warned him.

"No, _mum_," Robin groaned, deciding that he wouldn't spare Slade his more tender instincts from now on, because the man clearly deserved it.

The valley around the next bend seemed deserted as well, and Robin noted nothing more than that the pass seemed to grow wider and the walls surrounding it were not as steep anymore.

"We are getting closer to the other side, finally," he told Slade as he got back to the man. "I understand that you want to get out of here because it's so easy to walk into an ambush, but we need to think about finding some shelter for the night as well."

"I don't know, it's getting colder. If the moon provides enough light, we might want to continue moving… we're better protected in the dark."

"Define '_we _might want'," Robin muttered.

"Are you tired?"

"Well… let's see… Today I've been nearly bitten by a snake, shot at, watched five men die, plus that boyfriend of yours you landed on, been almost blown up, and then had to wade through itty-bitty body-parts to find you… yes, I'm pretty tired."

"What snake?"

"Forget it," Robin growled.

"I saw a lizard."

"Good for you."

"Let's compromise."

"You know what that word_ means_?" Robin faked a surprised gasp.

"I've looked it up after you told me to," Slade smirked. "Let's leave the pass, find some place to rest and then, if there's enough light and we deem it safe, let's move on once it's dark."

"Sounds good. Agreed," Robin nodded.

"Hmm… what do you know? That research _was_ useful…" Slade grinned teasingly at the teen.

"Yes, you can make me do anything by being reasonable, fair and willing to bend to my will," the hero deadpanned.

"I'll remember that."

"Please do."

* * *

The landscape leveled out so gradually they almost didn't realize that they were out of the pass. They had been walking down hill for a long while, however, and came out at the foot of the mountain-range.

The sun was setting over a desolate landscape of dry, sparse tufts of grass and cactus-like plants, giving away to dry rock-littered soil, so different from the forest they had left that Robin was amazed. It was like they had arrived on another planet.

There were only a few trees here and there close to the mountains, but they disappeared altogether further away.

The tracks from the car went straight out into the wilderness, Robin saw.

"Where did those men _come_ from?" the teen asked and squinted off into the distance. "They appeared so quickly after the explosion…"

"Trust me, I remember…" Slade muttered.

"I don't think they lay in wait just to cock-block _you_," Robin snorted.

"I'm starting to wonder…" the man muttered, but Robin could tell he wasn't serious. "They might have had a camp nearby."

"Yes, but where? They had fresh food with them, after all, not camp-food," Robin pointed out. "And they didn't have any gear in the car."

"Probably couldn't fit any in with all the explosives," Slade shrugged with a grin.

"Hey, stop it! I hate being the serious one!" Robin snapped. "Use that amazing brain you claim you have and try to figure out why people are randomly showing up to kill us!"

"Fine. I'd say they were a scouting-team, who knew about the trap, knew we were bound to reach it today and was here to either check if it worked or disarm the bomb if their colleges had done their job already."

"See, was that so hard?" Robin grinned.

"Don't be cute, princess."

"Well, with my looks I can't be _ugly_…" Robin leered and stuck his tongue out.

"Kids," the man snorted and shook his head.

"Old men," Robin smirked back. "Anyway, where to?"

"North-east," Slade pointed, thankfully not in the same direction as the tracks came from.

"Okay, you're in charge of navigation. Don't get us lost," Robin decided.

"I won't."

Though the sun was touching the horizon now, the heat from the earth out here in the open was tangible. Robin swallowed dryly and remembered Slade's promise of water.

"Which way was that pond?" he asked the man who then studied the ground and the mountains behind them.

Slade turned toward him slowly and sighed.

"I'm afraid you're standing on it."

Robin looked down. The ground seemed different here, more like dried, cracked mud than rocky, loose soil he could see around it.

"Damn."

"Another reason we should travel in the cool of the night," Slade said.

"Well, it's okay, I'm not that thirsty," Robin said and grinned. "And hey, there are cactuses over there, let's cut one of them open and drink, huh?"

Slade gave him a level look.

"I hope you are joking?"

"I was," Robin snorted. "I'm aware that this isn't a cartoon. If it was, they would have tried to drop anvils on us."

"Still, those are Prickly Pear cactus… You should check if they have any ripe fruit," Slade suggested. "Then we should use some rocks to screen off a fire. We'll need one, but I want it to be seen as little as possible."

"I'll get on it. Sit down and rest already, before I make you," Robin ordered.

* * *

Robin built a semi-circular wall of rocks around a somewhat smaller fire-place, high enough so that not much would be seen. It wouldn't block everything, but it was better than a fire right out in the open. He then found plenty of dead, dry twigs and branches on and around the few trees, and left Slade to build a fire.

"I found some fruits!" he declared as he came back to a small, but well tended hearth. "Are these edible?" He had been forced to take his t-shirt off and collect them, since they had small, nasty spines.

"They are, but peel them carefully," Slade told him, which made Robin roll his eyes.

"No, I was going to eat them with the thorns…" he muttered.

"The glochids."

"Oh, shut up!"

Slade chuckled smugly, happy in the knowledge that he could annoy his little princess better than anyone else.

_To Be Continued…_

* * *

A/N: REJOICE! No cliffhanger! I hope that won't mean you don't want to read the next chapter, though…

Speaking about chapters, I should at least START writing the second-to-last one… ;)


	10. Take a Chance On Me

A/N: oh, forgot to write an A/N before uploading!... Err... I don't know what to say... apart from thank you Jayto for betaing of course! ;)

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Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm

**Chapter 10: Take a Chance On Me**

As the darkness fell, Robin kept busy by rolling the cactus-fruit on the gravel, before cutting and peeling them carefully with his knife. After it was all done he had a small pile of reddish gooey looking fruit-meat.

"Here," he said to Slade and held out half of it to him.

"I'll be alright, it's all yours," the man shrugged. He was lying down next to the fire, the injured leg stretched out, and his head and shoulders propped up on a rock, like it was a pillow. Robin didn't think it looked very comfortable.

"You're hurt," the teen tried. "And besides, I just want to check if you throw up before I try to eat any of this stuff myself."

The man chuckled and took one piece of fruit and plopped it in his mouth. Robin, hesitantly, followed suit.

The taste was a weird mix between sweet and sour, maybe with a bit of watermelon and bubble-gum mixed in. Robin didn't know if he liked it, but the moisture was welcome.

"Have another?" he offered Slade, who, because he was a stubborn ass who didn't know what was good for him, declined. Robin snorted and shook his head. He wondered if he should try the 'one spoon for mommy'-trick, but then thought of a new strategy he had a feeling the man might actually fall for. "Oh, so you aren't going to have another one?" he asked sweetly.

"Like I said, Robin, you need them more," Slade looked up at the teen who sat, cross-legged, next to him.

"Well… what if I told you that this one…" Robin held up a fruit slice, "…is yours?" he said and slowly put it between his own lips. "You want it?" he mumbled around the food and bent down.

"Little devil…" Slade smirked, but met his lips. Robin pushed the Prickly Pear into the man's mouth and then kissed him as a reward. As he was about to pull back, Slade grabbed his neck and pushed half the piece back into the teen's mouth. Robin rolled his eyes but then chewed and swallowed with a chuckle.

"Want another one?" he grinned.

They ended up sharing all of them this way, both knowing that they couldn't afford to go any further with the injury and the need to rest, but, somehow, this seemed more intimate than anything else, and they both enjoyed it. Robin wouldn't be so ridiculous as to call it 'bonding', but still… part of him felt that they had.

The hero ended up resting his head on Slade's stomach while looking up at the stars.

"Are we going to go soon?" he asked and then yawned.

"Sleep an hour. It's still warm; we might as well enjoy it while it lasts," Slade said.

"Kay… hey, Slade?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you think your employers will be pretty pissed if you bring a date?"

"I'll handle it. Don't worry."

"Okay," the teen mumbled and then drifted off.

* * *

Slade stayed awake, the pain in his leg making it impossible to drift off. It was nice to get his weight off it, though. Robin's head on his stomach was also strangely nice. The man's hand was resting on the teen's chest, feeling it rise and fall.

When had he let the damn kid get this close? It had been a mistake to fuck him in the first place, Slade had known it.

He smirked as he remembered how annoyed he had been with the teen who had been so restless in his sleep and kept twisting and turning. He was used to it now, though. Besides, an arm across his chest or around his waist usually calmed him down. Sure, it looked like they were snuggling, but Slade could live with that when he really needed his rest.

Maybe he never should have come back… After parting ways at that airport, and long before that, Slade remembered feeling a… _twinge_ at the thought of leaving. Not of longing, absolutely not, but… irritation. Yes. He was _annoyed_ that he had to leave and what might happen afterward. Like Robin meeting someone else.

But he had suppressed his possessive tendencies and stayed away for six months. He had returned, intending to leave again in the morning, since returning at _all_ was just a sign of weakness… well… besides the fact that he needed to check up on the bike of course… What was supposed to be a one night stand ended with the Titans walking in on them, however, and that had changed a few things…

Slade had expected Robin to throw him out, deny that he had ever seen him and swear his team to silence. That didn't quite happen. Sure, the teen had been a bit embarrassed and uncomfortable, but when telling his team the whole story about what had happened during Bruce's kidnapping, he had made Slade out to be a hero. He hadn't even exaggerated, making it seem like he believed it himself. It had left Slade feeling… content. He was a cold-hearted, violent, dangerous executioner for hire, but he, for some reason, didn't want_ Robin_ to see him like that.

Slade sighed, which made the teen mumble in his sleep. The man moved his hand in a calming circle down over the hero's stomach, and Robin settled again with a little sigh of his own. Slade felt himself smile. Damn Robin. Damn mission. It had exposed him… and he had an image to maintain, after all… business and pleasure… it changed the way Robin looked at him. Slade didn't like that. He had hated the way the teen had looked after they had almost made love the other day, but the anger and frustration he had felt was not aimed at his princess, but at himself…. and _still_… still he was only doing his job! Why in the world would Robin take that personally? Why would it make him mistrust him in other things? Did the teen really think that just because Slade might have taken that damn box off him, the man would have strangled him in his sleep?

Slade sighed again. He looked at the position of the moon, which was full and bright. The small fire had died down by now, and he hadn't bothered with feeding it; it was better that their eyes were used to the darkness from the start.

They would never have been able to see enough in the forest, but he thought that there would be little danger now, as long as they were careful.

"Princess? Time to wake up…" he mumbled and ran his hand up the teen's stomach to his chest again. When Robin barely stirred, Slade pinched one of his nipples.

"Ow!" the teen sat up and rubbed his chest, while glaring at his rude pillow. "What the hell kind of way is that to wake someone up?"

"The effective way. I tried the nice one first, but it didn't work," the man smirked. "We should go."

"Kay," Robin murmured and got to his feet. He held out his hand to Slade and glared at the man again, as the mercenary looked stubborn. "Come on, Deathstroke. The wound might just reopen if you strain it. I won't tell anybody."

"You probably will… but fine," Slade snorted and let himself be helped to his feet. "Are you going to help me take a dump too, because that's next on the agenda."

"I will if I have to," Robin crossed his arms. "Do I have to?"

"No, I think I can manage," the man let him know with another, amused snort.

"Thank god," the teen grinned. "But here; paper towel. Don't waste it. Use both sides."

Slade chuckled as he made his way towards a group of larger rocks. He would depend on them for support instead of Robin.

The teen had some business to take care of himself and disappeared in the other direction. When they got back to Jump he would never complain about the broken lock on Slade's bathroom door again. Sure, peeing together was fine, but there were limits he really didn't want to cross until he really had to.

* * *

The walk was slow. Slade's leg, the loose earth, and the darkness made it that way. Robin glanced as his partner, trying to judge if the man seemed to need to rest. That was quite impossible to determine however, because even though Robin could see better in the dark then he had expected, Slade's face was a mask.

The teen snorted again. They made quite a strange pair… Slade limping, one trouser-leg gone and his chest bare, because Robin had shivered a little while earlier and Slade had demanded that the teen would wear his t-shirt as well. Robin had given up arguing after a while and now wore it like a poncho; his arms inside the wide shirt to keep them warm. Yup. They both looked like idiots.

The man didn't seem affected by the chilly air at all, but, then again, Robin didn't think much _did_ affect him. Sometimes he wished the mercenary would just whine… about _anything_.

The ground wasn't as flat as the Titan had first thought as they came out of the pass; in fact the landscape consisted of a lot of small hills and mounds, and that made it twice as tiring to walk through. There were clumps of cacti-plants and rocks here and there, but no trees, and no other signs of life.

Robin was already starting to think about water. He knew it was mostly physiological; he couldn't possibly be dehydrated yet, but knowing he had none, made him want it.

"Slade, have you ever drunk your own pee?"

"What the _hell _are you thinking about now?" the man asked, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Survival-things. Have you?"

"No. And that's not something you should consider, not without processing it first. It contains salt. You'll only get thirstier."

"Oh. Okay."

"It's scary how disappointed you just sounded," the man guffawed and set off again.

"What? No!" Robin exclaimed. "Ew! But it's like a last option, and it's nice to have one."

"I don't think I'd consider that option 'nice' either way," Slade chuckled. "But I've always thought you were much dirtier than you let on."

"Oh, go sit on a cactus," Robin muttered.

* * *

Slade wished his leg would heal faster, but he could feel it would probably be stiff for weeks. His body needed to absorb some of the smaller bone-fragments and grow new ones. His temperature had risen somewhat to battle the infection that would have a normal man close to death by now, but for Slade it was only a plus at the moment, as the air was chilly.

He was worried about Robin, though, and wondered if his latest question meant that the boy was thirsty. He was sure that the teen would make it, and easily, since they would probably be meeting up with his employers the day after tomorrow according to schedule. In fact, if they walked all night, they would only have a little ways to go the next day, and, with any luck, the team who were going to take care of the item would already be there.

Slade frowned. He had been told some story about how his employers had come up with some kind of huge container which they thought would keep the thing safe for transportation, while Robin had been told that he was to take the thing to another facility. If Slade had known this before he left, he would have checked if there really _was_ one… Robin couldn't, since he didn't know where the goal was until after he had gone to the base in the first place. The place wasn't on the map either, of course. Secret research facilities so seldom were.

Slade wondered if there really _was_ another lab… but, on the other hand, his employers would know, wouldn't they? They had only spoken of a 'pick up place' however. He didn't like this… And, speaking about his employers, Robin might be right in thinking that they would question his presence. Slade didn't want to risk it. He had to think that part through a bit, he guessed.

He didn't like anything about this mission. It had sounded like a good idea at first. Such a good idea, in fact, that he hadn't taken the time to do his usual amount of background-checks. Not that there had been much timeto_ do_ research; it all have been rather rushed. He trusted the middle man, though; he had gotten quite a few missions through him during the last ten years.

He would get to the bottom of this sooner or later, but Robin was right; they needed to get out first. There was no way in hell that he would miss his daughter's wedding, and the clues would still be there afterwards. Slade glanced down at his hand where the ring still sat on his finger. He was glad he had actually forgotten about it, and never put it in his packing, or else it would be gone now as well. As of now it was an important clue: if he analyzed the contents he was sure to be able to find out who made it… it wasn't something you could just go out and buy, after all. The bodies were still there as well, but Slade didn't think they would be for too long; they would be picked up. Besides, he hadn't planned on hunting his quarry by returning to this place… he would do better where the rats actually _talked_.

He checked the position of the stars to make sure they were on track, and fixed his eye on a rock-formation on the horizon for the next target. He hoped they could reach it before morning.

* * *

The sleep he had gotten was not nearly enough, Robin decided, and then wondered why he was so tired. He had gone three days without a wink on occasion, and he hadn't felt this beat afterwards. He guessed it was a combination of the hike, the damn decoy-mission and people showing up and dying all over the place. Oh, and the whole thing with Slade. The relationship thing, not the leg thing… although the leg-thing worried him too.

He, or rather they, needed to do something to fix this. Camping was out of the question.

"Let's go on a mission," Robin suggested.

"Excuse me? I thought we were trying to get _home_ from one?" Slade asked.

"Yes, but _we_ didn't go on this one," Robin pointed out in a flat voice.

"True."

"And I think we should. Do something. Together."

"I agree," Slade said with a leer. Robin's glare was so hard it could be seen through the darkness, though, so the man continued. "My missions usually involve people dying, Robin."

"Yeah, but I wasn't talking about any of _your _missions, just a mission… Batman can set us up… or Shield and Shift."

"You are talking about the people who sent you on this wild goose chase," Slade reminded the teen.

"Not true. _Your_ people sent _you_ on a wild goose chase; _mine_ just made me a sitting duck."

"And then you ended up making a chicken out of a feather," Slade deadpanned.

"Oh, lord, let's just go back to innuendos, this is getting ridiculous…" Robin sighed.

"Fine with me…" Slade chuckled. "Were you really serious about that mission?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Let them find us some drug-lab to take down or some _real_ damsel in distress to rescue, and I'm all yours."

"I like the sound of that…" Robin smiled.

"You should. I don't make that offer often," Slade grinned back.

"You better not," the teen warned him.

They walked on. Robin still glanced at Slade from time to time, hoping the man would just call it quits soon, but as long as_ he_ could go on, with a shattered leg, Robin didn't want to whine about being tired. He was hungry too, but that was something else he didn't want to mention. He knew Slade had a few things; the energy bar and some trail-mix, but he was afraid that he'd get even thirstier if he had any of that. He should probably look for more cactus-fruit, but he couldn't very well do that in the dark.

"Are you going to wear a tux?" he asked the man a while later.

"Are you going to stop asking random, strange questions?" Slade asked back.

"Nope."

"Well, then… I don't know. Was it a black-tie thing?"

"I think it's a 'wear you uniform or whatever'-thing," Robin shrugged.

"Great, then I won't have to change…" Slade smirked.

"Oh, I_ dare_ you to go to the wedding in half a pair of pants!" Robin chuckled.

"Rose has a sense of humor," the man shrugged.

"Not that big, trust me!" The Titan laughed now, easily picturing Slade with a glass of champagne at the wedding-party, half naked, wondering what everyone was staring at.

"Really?"

"Yeah, _really_. I think you should wear a tux… at least a very nice suit," Robin frowned. "But of course I have to talk to Alfred since I haven't even seen the invitations…"

"I know that you are trying to take your mind off our current situation, Robin, but you are actually making me feel _worse_," Slade muttered.

"I don't see why? Bruce is rich, a great guy and he can be a real bad-ass too," Robin defended his mentor. "You are not that different! Oh, damn, maybe Alfred really was right?"

"About what?"

"The thing he said about people picking their partners because they remind them of their parents?"

"I thought we established that he was senile?"

"Right, we did…" Robin grinned. "But come on… what _do_ you have against Bruce?"

"He's not right for her."

"_Why_?"

Slade sighed when it was clear that Robin just wouldn't let go of this particular thread of conversation.

"Fine. He's a hero. He'll get himself killed eventually. People like him, and me, shouldn't have people depending on them."

Robin remained quiet for a while.

"Well… if they have a family… maybe he'll cut back?"

"Do you really think he will?" Slade snorted.

"Maybe… I mean… I can talk to him? And besides, Rose is no little innocent housewife; she was at the H.I.V.E. for a_ reason_, after all. She knows the risks too."

"Knowing it and living it are two different things."

"Yeah, but I think they are old enough to figure that out," Robin decided. "Don't worry about your little girl, Slade. Don't worry about Bruce, and don't worry about me."

"Stop taking away my hobbies," the man half muttered, half chuckled.

* * *

Slade didn't quite know if Robin was being too naïve or if he himself was being too cynical. Life and relationships were never easy, so when someone told him that it would simply, somehow, 'work out' he didn't believe it for a second. Then again, it was Robin telling him. Not that he should listen to someone about a third his age. No one should listen to a generation that thought that the worst thing that could ever happen was that their internet connection would fail. On the other hand, Robin was more mature than that, thank god.

"Damn fucking rocks!"

Or maybe not.

* * *

Walking in near darkness over an uneven ground meant that you stumbled. A lot. What Robin couldn't understand was why he kept hitting the same toe in the exact same place over and over, though.

In the end he had enough and kicked one. Of course it hurt him more than the rock.

"Are we getting to that point when you will start to ask 'are we there yet?'" Slade smirked at him.

"Yes!" Robin growled. "Are we?"

"You see those cliffs over there? If we make it there before the sun rises, we're there," Slade told him.

Robin groaned at the distance, but at least he now had a goal.

"You better not say 'just a little bit further' once we do…" he warned the man.

"I won't."

* * *

"Just a little bit further."

"You promised!"

"I know, but we're not quite there, are we?"

"The sun is up!"

"Yes, and in less than an hour you'll want some shade, trust me."

"Fine," Robin grumbled. He had a headache which just wouldn't quit, just like his damn partner.

Eventually they _did_ reach the small cliffs, however, and sat down in the shade.

"I should look for some cactus-fruit…" Robin mumbled tiredly.

"I already did that on the way. It doesn't look that good," Slade admitted. "But rest. We are not that far from my meeting-point… I'm going to go ahead."

"What? You are leaving me here?" Robin gaped. "You are the injured one! I should go!"

"They might shoot first and ask questions later," Slade told him, "And they are only expecting me. I don't want to make them nervous, since I already have to disappoint them. Oh, by the way, could I have the box?"

"Yeah, sure," Robin said and handed it over.

"See? Was that so hard? If you had only done that from the _start_…" Slade smirked.

"Shut up and go get me an ice-cream," Robin snorted.

"I'll see what I can do. Some water, food, and a ride out of here might have to do, though."

"Yes, yes, if that's all you can manage…" Robin grinned.

"Ungrateful little whelp."

"That's me, all right…" the teen nodded. "But… are you sure you don't want to rest a bit? Your leg…"

"It's just a bit stiff, and this way I'll avoid the worst of the heat. Stay in the shade. The sun is on the other side of the cliff so you shouldn't have to move before I return…" Slade pulled out the food they had left and gave it to Robin, who tried to give it back.

"I can't watch you go _and _take your food!" the teen objected.

"Softy."

"At least take half!"

"No, I'm fine, Robin. Remember, I could have made this trip with less than this. Don't be so damn stubborn."

"When we are out of here I'm going to pamper you like hell, and you are going to let me!" Robin growled.

"Does pampering me include sex?"

"Lots and lots of it."

"Then I'll agree."

"Good!"

"Sleep, Robin," Slade sighed.

"Want your t-shirt back?"

"No, it's fine."

"I can't let you go to them like that, they will be all over you…" Robin grinned and pulled off Slade's shirt.

The man took it with a sigh and a head shake.

"Bye Robin, be good."

"You too."

"Please don't make me?"

Robin stood up and followed the man around the cliff to watch him go. He was really tired, however, and as Slade started to disappear behind a low hill, Robin headed for the shade.

He woke up now and then, but found it hard to really stay awake. As he opened his eyes again after a long slumber it was because his legs were burning. He sat up. The sun had not only reached him; it was already afternoon. And Slade had not come back.

_To be Continued…_

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A/N: same as above, forgot to write an A/N... err.. yeah... hope you enjoyed the chapter... it was a bit of a filler, I guess... getting them from point A to B... or almost to B... B is next! ;)


	11. VoulezVous?

**A/N:** Well now things are happening… ;) Sorry for misplacing Slade in the last chapter, I hope to relocate him before this chapter ends… let's see how that goes… Thank you Jayto, as usual, for being a wonderfully supportive Beta!

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**Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm**

**Chapter 11: Voulez-Vous?**

Robin looked around; maybe Slade was just out of sight?

"Slade?" No, it didn't seem so. He walked around the cliff and studied the horizon, but saw nothing move. Well. It wasn't that late yet. He'd just have to wait for another hour or so, surely.

Robin walked around the cliff once more, looking for cactus-fruit, but the few he found were not ripe, and he didn't dare eat them. His skin had turned a little red from the sun, and he put on more sun-lotion, idly wondering if he could eat_ that_. He didn't want to try this either, however, because he could just picture Slade telling him he was an idiot. He even applied some to the areas covered by his clothes, since he knew that fabric didn't offer full protection, and he needed whatever he could get. There wasn't much left in the small bottle when Robin put it back in his pocket, but hopefully it hadn't been a waste, and would last a while.

He had no way of telling the time for sure, other than by how far the sun had moved, but soon it became clear to the teen that something must have happened. Without giving it much thought, he set out after the mercenary.

It was easy to follow the man's tracks, thanks to the holes from his crutch, but, as the sun slowly sank, Robin wondered what the hell he had gotten himself into. He was about to be stranded out here in the middle of nowhere, because he couldn't track Slade in the dark.

It was one thing to walk in the general direction of a target, but he needed to see the ground to follow the man… and the mercenary wouldn't know where _Robin_ was either. He should have stayed… at least until tomorrow morning… The hero paused and then dragged his foot in the soil, drawing a large arrow pointing in the direction he was walking. There. It was rather late to think of this, but if Slade went back by another route and he wasn't there, the mercenary should understand that Robin had tracked him… this proved it and it wouldn't fade as easily as footprints.

Robin sighed and continued walking. His headache hadn't gone away, and his mouth was dry. He took a small bite of the energy-bar in the hope that that would help him produce more saliva. It worked, but only temporarily, and he ended up feeling even thirstier.

When the sun was beginning to set, Robin heard a sound. An engine. He looked around, but the landscape was flat where he was and there was nowhere to hide. Just then a jeep rounded a hill in the distance and came barreling toward him.

"Well, I can't _outrun_ it…" Robin muttered to himself. It was clear the people in the car, three as far as Robin could see, had already spotted him.

The jeep was open, although not the same model as the one that had blown up. Not that it mattered what type of car he was about to be run down by…

Surprisingly the vehicle swerved as it got closer and stopped a little bit away from him.

"You Robin?" the driver asked.

"Moron, who else is he gonna be?" the man in the back laughed heartily. "Great that we found you, kid, or Slade would have had our balls."

"Slade?" Robin blinked. "Where…?"

"He's back at the camp. He had to wait for us to show up, we weren't supposed to meet until tomorrow, and when we finally got there, it was faster to take the car, of course."

"Then why didn't he come?" Robin frowned.

"You're a suspicious little brat, aren't you?" the man next to the driver chuckled.

"Well, Slade said he _would_ be… something about not taking candy from strangers?" the driver shrugged. "Look, Robin, we've been told to get you back even if we have to tie you to the car and drag you, so come on, huh? We all really _like_ our balls."

"Yeah, very attached to them myself…" the guy in the back-seat grinned.

Robin studied the group. They acted very naturally together, like they had known each other for a long time, and yet they didn't exactly _match_. The driver was African-American and had a bit of a gut on him. Age wise he was probably over forty, Robin thought. The man next to him was wiry with a shaved head and tattoos all over his arms and neck. The one in the back was a blond muscle-monster, and looked the youngest, probably in his middle twenties… not exactly the kind of guys that would normally hang together, but, on the other hand, these were the subordinates of Slade's employer, and that person probably hired all sorts of people. Robin's neck-hairs didn't like them, however, but what could he do? Wave them off? Not bloody likely.

"You didn't answer my question," Robin pointed out, crossing his arms. "Why didn't Slade come with you?"

"Did you see his leg, kid? We have a guy who used to be a doc, he's taking a look at that… and besides, he needed to give a report to the boss and stuff… The boss thinks reports are more important than little lost boys, so it was just quicker this way," the blond explained.

"But if you refused to come we would at least give you this," the driver threw a bottle of water to Robin, who caught it automatically. It was cold. Robin felt the need to just tear into it almost overwhelming.

He glanced at the strangers, but none of them made a move. He needed the water. Badly. Giving in to the temptation, Robin unscrewed the lid and drank deeply, emptying half the bottle in only a few swallows. He stopped for a moment as he felt his head spin. He had drank too much too suddenly, probably. He slowed down a little but still emptied the bottle.

Breathing deeply he took a step. And stumbled.

What the fuck?

Robin felt his knees hit the ground as he heard a car door open.

"Hey, Robin, you okay?" a voice asked.

"Guess you shouldn't take water from strangers either, huh, kid?" the teen heard the driver say snidely before it all went black.

* * *

It had taken longer than Slade thought to reach the rendezvous-point. His leg wasn't merely stiff now, it _throbbed_, and he didn't feel very "meta" at all. A simple wound would have been healed by now, but every time he moved and put weight on the leg, the small shards of his fractured femur stabbed and cut into his muscles opening new wounds. No real rest and nearly no nutrients didn't help much either.

At last he spotted a couple of vehicles and a large military-style tent, and only moments later he was met by several armed guards.

"Identify yourself!" one of them barked.

"I'm Deathstroke. I have the item. Where's your boss?"

Slade had, as soon as he had seen the first signs of humans, dropped the crutch. He might be hurt, but it was never a good thing to advertise it. Not that the men couldn't see the wound, but if he acted like it didn't bother him, they might think twice about doing anything stupid. There were always those who would. Young men, eager to prove themselves against the legendary Deathstroke. Slade saw it as educational to put them out of their delusions.

"Of course, Sir, follow me," the man, a large blond youngster, said.

The guards, six of them, surrounded him as they walked towards the tent, but Slade wasn't particularly worried. This was a sensitive mission after all, and caution was necessary. Something, however, caught the sunlight, just before they were about to enter the tent; a ring. A gold ring with a black stone.

Slade attacked.

As a shout of warning alerted the people inside the tent, more people filed out. Slade had killed two when someone slammed the butt of a rifle into his injured leg. He just had time to kill that man as well before a heavy blow landed on the back of his head, followed by several others. Slade's last thoughts were, strangely enough, not of rage and revenge, but of a pair of blue eyes.

* * *

Robin woke up slowly. He was cold, very, very cold. His head spun too, every time he tried to move even a little. Trying to curl in on himself, he felt something warm next to him and edged closer before he fell back down into the darkness.

When he woke again he was hot. Something was burning his skin, but if he stayed completely still it wasn't too bad. He felt an urgency to wake up, however; it was very important, even though he couldn't really figure out why.

After a while the dizziness receded somewhat and he could open his eyes. From that point on, the things he discovered hit him one after the other, and none of them were good.

He was lying on concrete. That was weird, since he clearly remember being in the middle of nowhere, but it was definitely concrete and not rock.

Slade was next to him, sprawled on his front, with dried blood down his neck and back; his hair now even more red than white. Robin pushed himself up on his elbows, hissing as his skin came in contact with the hot concrete, and moved his arms until they rested on the slightly cooler surface where his body had just been. He steeled himself and crawled closer to the man. He reached out and felt for a pulse. It was there. It was very faint and very slow, but at least there.

The next thing he discovered was that Slade was naked. They had even taken his eye-patch. A moment later Robin saw that he was naked as well, and, as he moved, he heard the faint clink of metal. Looking down, he noticed a shackle around his ankle and a chain running from it, through a large metal hoop embedded in the concrete, and ending up attached to a shackle around one of Slade's ankles.

"This is_ not_ good…" Robin mumbled to himself.

"Sir! The kid woke up!" Robin heard a shout from a bit away, and looked up.

The concrete he was on only stretched a bit further and then the now well known dry ground took over again. Robin sat up a little bit more and glanced around. Yes. A perfectly level slab of concrete, more than large enough to hold him and Slade, had just been poured in the middle of nowhere. The teen's mind filled in the picture; helicopter pad. Had to be. But that didn't explain the metal hoop or why they were chained to it. Well. Maybe the nice men coming towards them would? Maybe not.

Robin tensed as the men came closer. They didn't seem like the strange, manic minions some villains liked to surround themselves with. _Unlike those villains who chose robots… _Robin thought dryly and glanced down at Slade quickly. No, the men looked pretty normal, but then again, so had- Robin stared as he saw a ring on one of the men's fingers. _Fuck. Fuck squared!_ He wasn't chained here because Slade's employer was pissed off; these where the people who had tried to kill them all along!

_Wait, but why…_ Robin had to push the thought aside as the men reached the concrete plate.

"Woken up, have you?" one of them asked, and Robin sighed. He had been wrong. These were_ definitely_ minions.

"No, this is a dream. Free us, or the scary teddy-bear monster will eat your toes…" he sneered. He didn't try to cover himself up, though he wanted to. It would make him look weaker, and draw more attention to the fact that he was naked, and, possibly, vulnerable. The teen _didn't _want to do _that_.

"Did we hit this one on the head as well?" the same man said. Robin had never seen him before, but he recognized the blond next to him.

"Nope, just drugged him. Maybe he thinks he's being funny?" that man smirked.

"I _am_ funny. Let me go and I'll show you," Robin suggested sweetly.

"Sorry, we have our orders. Nothing personal, kid."

"Oh, pity, it's so much more _fun_ when it is," Robin deadpanned.

"Not for you," the blond shrugged.

"No? Is your boss around by the way?" the teen asked.

"Not at the moment, no."

"Darn. I was looking forward to _the speech_," the hero sighed.

"What speech?" the first man asked.

"The how-I-am-going-to-take-over-the-world-and-you-can't-stop-me-speech," Robin explained. "It's usually refreshing. Sure, the people are always _wrong_, but, you know, it has entertainment-value."

"I'll let my boss know what you are expecting. I'm sure he doesn't want to disappoint you," Blondie smirked.

"Good man," Robin nodded haughtily. "Now if you could get us some clothes and something to eat and drink as well? Without drugs, preferably."

"Sorry, we're not gonna give you a thing; boss's orders," Blond guy said. "Apparently you are too dangerous to even be allowed clothes."

"Oh, so you are saying you are_ not_ pervs?" Robin snorted.

"Not unless ordered to," the blond smirked, making the teen snarl. He would rip the man's balls off if he as much as _thought_ about it.

"Apparently we are so dangerous that you had to gang up on an injured man and drug me to take us on… you are such brave souls," the hero smirked.

"Your 'helpless' boyfriend there killed three of us, if you want to know," a new guard piped up.

"Damn him for restraining himself…" Robin snorted, but he felt his stomach turn slightly. He _still_ had problems hearing about Slade-the-killer, even though he_ should_ be used to it by now. "How about the guy under the bear? Was he one of yours too?" he asked.

"What?" the blond asked.

"Oh, doesn't matter… just, if you see a dead bear, you might want to look under it," Robin shrugged.

"Jones is still missing," Robin heard the mutter from one of the men and smirked. He then got another idea.

"Wait… when you took our clothes… did… did you go through our stuff?" he asked, looking worried.

"Of course we did. Worried about the box? It was empty, kid," the blond man said, and several of the guards chuckled.

"I know that! It's just… I had a small bottle of sunscreen-lotion…"

"Yeah… so?"

"You… you didn't… _open _that, did you?" Robin's expression was now beyond worried, almost sickly.

"So what if we did?" Blond guy said and looked around at his comrades, searching for some sort of confirmation from whoever had sorted through Robin's possessions. One man in particular seemed anxious.

"You… didn't… touch it or… or sniff it?" Robin stared pleadingly at that man, who promptly broke out in a sweat.

"Wha-what? It was _sunscreen_! It_ smelled_ like sunscreen!" the man tried to explain, his friends edging away a little. The guy got clearly irritated and took a few steps forward towards Robin. "Now look here, I-"

"Don't come any closer!" Robin yelled, making the group freeze. "Just… keep away! The bottle, it's not in the sun right? It's locked away?"

"He's just bluffing! There's nothing wrong with the bottle!" the blond man barked, but his friends didn't seem so sure. "Listen up! Ignore the kid and go back to what you were doing!" he ordered. "Jack, call the boss, tell him one of them is awake."

The group dispersed, still glancing in Robin's direction. As they walked away, Robin heard a snippet of conversation;

"You better move that thing!"

"Me! Why Me?"

"Well you have already touched it! I'm not gonna!"

Robin grinned. Messing with people's minds was such fun.

* * *

The men left them alone for quite some time after that, which Robin was grateful for. He wasn't in good enough shape to defend himself from any form of bullying, and he would have to protect Slade as well, as the man refused to wake up. Robin checked the mercenary's pulse and breathing regularly and worried.

The metal cuffs and chains binding them got a very close once-over but seemed depressingly fresh and strong. The metal hoop the chain ran through didn't even budge no matter how much Robin kicked it, and it _hurt _kicking something like that with his bare feet. It was completely embedded in the concrete, however, and when pulling at it Robin would have better success at lifting the whole helicopter-pad than uprooting it. Still he tried. It was something to do, and he would be able to report it to Slade as soon as the man woke up. Because he would. Soon. Robin was sure of it.

The day became night and now Robin understood why he had been so cold when he first woken up. He kept pressed up against Slade and tried to sleep, but got little rest. The drugged bottle of water seemed to have done very little to actually help him, and since so much time had passed, Robin was as thirsty as ever.

He had relieved himself over the edge of the concrete plate in the middle of the night, childishly hoping someone would step in the pee. The hero was glad that he hadn't had much to eat lately, though, and his body seemed content with holding on to whatever little contents there might be.

When the morning came, so did the blond man.

"So, your boyfriend hasn't woken up yet?" he sneered.

"No, he might need a doctor!" Robin said, because there was still a chance, although small, that the man's boss didn't actually want Slade dead. At least not yet.

"He needs a bullet in the brain," the blond snorted. "No matter, new orders from the boss; I'm to give you this."

Something metal landed in front of Robin, and the teen's eyes widened.

"We are not allowed clothes, but you give me a _saw_?"

"I'm following orders, I don't have to like them… but I'm told that if you throw it at us, you won't be allowed to have it back."

Robin blinked and stared at the man in stunned silence.

"Excuse me?" he said after a while.

"Ah, you want to know more about the game?" the man smirked.

"Yes please, although I can already tell that the rules are insane," Robin muttered.

"Fine. The boss says that you are free to go. All you have to do is saw his foot off. Or yours. Don't even try to use it on the chains, because the blade won't hold for that."

Robin felt sick but burst out in a fake laugh.

"So what then? I'll _hop_ out of here?"

"Well, we have orders to stick around until Slade wakes up, and if you do it before then, we are to escort you out of here… our boss is a very nice guy."

"Me _and _Slade?"

"Only you."

"Ah…"

"What, had it made a difference? Because I could always _ask_…" the man grinned.

Robin had, briefly, considered that maybe, just _maybe,_ Slade's healing powers were strong enough for the foot to re-attach itself, but that was a risk he was not willing to take, and to leave the man was also out of the question. Sawing his own foot off also meant leaving the man, and he would probably not be able to do it… much less survive it.

"Your boss is a very sick bastard," Robin said lightly.

"Oh, I know," the blond chuckled.

"So what do you have? A ring or a tooth?" the teen asked next.

"A tooth."

"Slade said he thought that was for the more permanent employees…" the hero continued. He had already found out that the person behind this was a man, and maybe he could find out more.

"That's right," the man said and seemed to straighten, like it was something to be proud off.

"Must suck… aren't you scared to brush your teeth? Or maybe you just don't?" Robin smirked.

"It's safe enough, kid, don't worry about me… worry about yourself instead… and tell me if you need help sawing."

"Oh you can come over here right_ now_…" Robin smirked and grabbed the saw.

"Clever, but a word of warning: our boss says that if any of us is taken hostage by you, we are to ignore any demands."

"Hostage? That wasn't what I had in mind. Come on, get over here… I'll show you…" the teen smiled invitingly, but the man only walked away with a chuckle. Robin considered throwing the saw after him, with his skills he might hit the blond guard's neck, but he was _still _a hero and that _would_ lose them the saw. Robin didn't quite know what the heavier argument was.

He looked down on the tool. Blondie had been right. The teeth on it were far too big to cut through metal, but would work fine on flesh and bone. Robin shuddered and put the thing down.

"Sick fuckers…" he muttered and shuffled closer to Slade. "You better wake up soon, you know… If I'm gonna do all the work busting us out of here, at least I don't want to have to _carry_ you afterwards…" Slade didn't wake up, though.

* * *

The day seemed to get hotter and hotter. Robin sat up just to shade Slade's head, while his own was drooping. He felt sick to his stomach and he had noticed that he barely broke a sweat anymore, despite the heat. That couldn't be good. The guards came around now and then and loved to drink water or eat in front of the helicopter-pad. One or two even did the old 'pour the water out on the ground'-thing. Robin ignored them. He guessed he was grateful that the payback for his little stunt with the sun-screen didn't get worse than that. All of them had now drawn the conclusion that he had been lying, although Robin hadn't admitted it, only smirked slightly. The more nervous of the men hadn't liked that.

He kept his fingers on Slade's neck, slowly breathing in time with the pulse. They would get out of this. They would be fine.

He hadn't moved the man, he hadn't dared. He had just made sure that the mercenary could breathe well. If he ignored the blood and everything, Robin thought that Slade looked pretty comfortable, his head resting on one arm, and the other one tucked in by his side. His injured leg was straight, Robin had seen to that as well, and the nasty wound seemed to slowly be healing.

* * *

Late that afternoon, the man stirred.

"Slade? Slade, are you awake?" Robin asked, grabbing the man's shoulder and giving it a light shake. With a roar Slade flung himself around and Robin just barely had time to throw himself out of the way of the fist and then block another. The force of that punch still sent him sprawling on the hot concrete, as far as the short chain allowed.

"Slade!" Robin yelled, trying to get through to the man who was attacking once again, the look in his single eye was bloodthirsty and crazy.

Robin was sure the man was going to kill him, but managed to kick him away with his free foot. As Slade's own ankle came to a sudden stop due to the chain, the man fell over and just sat staring at nothing for a moment.

"S-slade?" Robin whispered.

The man blinked.

"Robin?"

"Yeah,_ Robin_. Not 'someone to kill'," the teen told him warily.

The man cradled his head in his hands and groaned.

"Are… are you okay?" the teen continued.

"No… I could have killed you… I…"

"Shhh… it's okay… we have company…" Robin hissed as he saw the guards closing in. Slade's head whipped up and none of the pain, worry and fatigue Robin _knew_ the man must be feeling could be seen anymore.

"So, both awake now?"

Robin sighed. It was the same brilliant guard who had declared something similar when he had woken up.

Slade didn't answer, but Robin could see him looking around, taking everything in.

"Yeah, we are, so how about finally telling us what's going on?" the teen muttered, glaring at the blond, as he had already understood that he was some kind of leader in this group.

"The boss will be informed and then I'm sure he will want to have a little chat."

"Great, looking forward to it," Robin snorted.

The guards didn't seem to have anything else to say and left again, although there was an unusual amount of activity in the camp all of a sudden.

"Care to catch me up?" Slade said quietly.

"I was hoping _you_ could… all I know is that they have a male boss and they belong to the same group as the tree-tipping suicide-loving ones."

"Yes, I saw the rings…" Slade nodded and then turned to Robin with a tortured look in his eye. "I'm sorry about the attack. I was in a healing coma. My body does that if it's injured enough, it just more or less shuts down, and when I wake up I tend to be… disoriented."

"I kinda noticed…" Robin smirked and rubbed his butt, which had chafed a little from the slide across the concrete.

Slade shrugged in a form of apology and frowned at the metal cuff around his ankle.

"Chains and we're naked… why am I not in the mood?" the mercenary muttered quietly, making Robin chuckle.

"You mean there's something that can actually _do _that? I'm shocked…" the teen leered.

"Care to explain the saw?"

"No, but I guess I have to," Robin muttered and then told the man everything that had happened so far, finishing with the little sick saw-game.

Slade looked at him contemplatively for a moment.

"What's with that look? _No_, I didn't consider cutting your foot off!" the hero snorted.

"You could have been out of here by now…" the man pointed out.

"Would you have cut _mine_ off?"

"How badly hurt would you have been in that scenario?" the man smirked.

Again, Robin was _pretty_ sure he was joking.

_To be continued…_

* * *

A/N: I didn't come up with the saw-thing, I'd like to say… problem is that I don't know where it cme from, probably some kind of movie… all I know is that my poor little innocent brain couldn't possibly have thought something like that up by itself… ;)

If this chapter made you even more frustrated, the next will probably answer most of your questions… ;)


	12. The Name of the Game

**A/N: **Hello again! It's Friday morning! Since I start work on the 27'th, though, the last chapters will either be posted on Thursday or Friday nights, just so you know… next chapter will be on schedule, though… ;) 3 chapters left!

Thank you **Jayto **for betaing (is that a word?) I don't know how you find the time, but I'm very glad you do!

This is THE chapter, and I'm nervous about how you are going to react, so please tell me when you've finished it?

* * *

**Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm**

**Chapter 12: The Name of the Game**

Slade and Robin watched the activity in the small camp warily while talking, keeping their voices low. Slade had, furtively, also checked the chains a while ago, but they, as well as the manacles and the metal hoop, wouldn't give in even to his strength.

"How are you feeling?" Robin asked.

"The coma helped," Slade shrugged. "I might not be joining any triathlons within the next few days, but I'm much better."

"Good to know… didn't wanna have to save your sorry ass again," the teen grinned.

"… I must remember that spanking…" Slade muttered.

"You know what? When we get out of here… I'm gonna_ let_ you spank me," Robin promised. "What do you think is going on here?"

"It's clearly a set-up, but I don't know why… We both piss people off on a regular basis after all."

"Yes, but this one went to a lot of trouble… I think I'm flattered," Robin said. "Well, if it was anything _I_ did… if it was anything _you_ did, I'm pissed."

"I think we are about to find out…" Slade muttered, and at that moment Robin also discovered the group who were carrying a foldable table and a computer screen, among other things, in their direction. The men started to set things up and Robin snorted.

"So your boss isn't even going to show? That's insulting."

"He's a busy man and you were supposed to be dead," Blond Guy shrugged.

"Oh, sorry to be an inconvenience…" Robin muttered.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you won't be much longer…" the guard smirked.

Robin didn't bother to respond, he just followed the setup, now including a computer and some sort of satellite dish, hungrily. A few minutes with that equipment and he could have the Titan's and the JL here in a flash… well, _literally_, in The Flash's case… The technology was well out of his or Slade's reach, though, unfortunately.

When it all was set up the guards checked the time and then booted the system up. The blond guard shielded the screen at first, typing and then speaking, but much too low for Robin or Slade to hear.

"Sure thing, boss, here they are," the guard said in a louder voice and Robin saw that he turned on a separate speaker, before moving aside.

Robin's eyes widened, and even Slade let out a low sound of surprise.

"Hello, gentlemen," the man on the screen said.

"What is this? Do we have S-es on our chests, or what?" Robin asked.

"Oh, I've worked for him before," Slade muttered. "Don't think I will again, though."

"Never say never," Lex Luthor smirked. "Hello, Slade… Robin… Sorry about the lack of decency, but I have been assured that your virtues have not been compromised… more than they already _had _been, that is…" the man glanced at the teen with a new smirk.

Robin crossed his arms. "The lack of decency is all on your part, Lex. What's this all about?"

The hero was worried, but tried not to show it. Luthor knew who he was, without his mask, and that wasn't good… Soon after they left the H.I.V.E-academy though, Bruce had acknowledged the problem that he had been working without his mask, which might lead people to come to conclusions, so he had been forced to go to an event as Dick Grayson, disguised with contact-lenses and hair extensions, among other things, so people at least wouldn't recognize Robin as Dick. It seemed to have worked, since Dick hadn't made an appearance since after the pirate-thing, and then it had been Bruce who had been the main centre of attention.

Since their latest adventure, Dick had done a few more appearances, leading people to now _knew _what Dick Grayson looked like… and he didn't look like Robin at all. Still… there was always a risk that Lex Luthor knew the truth.

"It's Mr. Luthor to you, boy," the businessman sneered.

"Oh, sorry, I thought we were all friends here," Robin smirked back.

"Care to tell us what is going on,_ Lex_?" Slade said in a cool voice.

"Yes, do the speech!" Robin nodded.

Luthor's eyes narrowed but then he shrugged.

"Very well. It wouldn't be much fun if you don't know why you are here… Now, where to begin…?" the man seemed to think things over for a while, and then continued. "As you know I have… _businesses_, all over the world. A little over a year ago I was branching out into a very profitable one; kidnapping. And the system we had worked out was rather flawless… until it was all torn apart by a white-haired man in an eye-patch and a black-haired teen, or so the surviving guards on the ship told me. Now, I knew who the _man_ was, of course, but you, Robin, took some time to figure out, and I must say it surprised me. What were you doing in that part of the world?"

The teen breathed a little easier. If Lex had known he had been on the ship as Dick Grayson, he would probably have bragged about it by now.

"A friend of a friend was on that ship. I happened to run into Slade and hired him," the hero said with the ease only the truth could bring.

"I see. Well, it annoyed me. A lot. But you win some and you lose some, it didn't matter. It _was_ interesting to see the Boy Wonder and Deathstroke working together, though, so I decided to keep an eye out for you. Business moved on. I invested in something new and very interesting… a certain school."

"Ah," Robin and Slade said as one.

"Yes indeed. Now, this time the principal got a bit carried away, and things got… personal… but you didn't only find your metal friend, you also brought Slade along. Unfortunately I only had financial interests in the school, so it was never reported to me that Deathstroke was staying there, until afterward… but the financial interests, I have to stress, were _quite _substantial."

"How about we apologize to each other and let bygones be bygones?" Robin suggested lightly, but Slade snorted, letting them all know that he would not even _consider _apologizing.

Lex Luthor also shook his head.

"I'm afraid that's not quite enough… you see, I'm not very comfortable having you two running around together. A hero or a team of them, well, that's one thing, and a mercenary can be immensely useful from time to time, but _together_ you are quite annoying."

"So you decided to drop a tree on us?" Robin asked. "Really Lex, isn't this plan just a little bit too elaborate for simple revenge?"

"It wasn't _supposed_ to be…" the man growled, clearly noticing Robin's disrespect. "It was supposed to be fairly uncomplicated."

"Do tell," Slade drawled.

"Truth be told: you are a valuable asset, Slade. Associating with heroes, though, well that couldn't be accepted. I planned to have Robin die, and then I would pick up the pieces, so to speak."

"I see…" Slade murmured.

"Well, I don't… not really," Robin admitted. "Why not have a sniper off me in Jump, then?"

"I wanted _Slade_ to be the one to kill you. He was supposed to shoot you on sight, and then discover the truth. He would blame the people who sent you as well as himself, and your friends would, of course, blame _him_. Batman would get involved, naturally, and maybe even the JL. I would 'happen' to reintroduce myself at that point as a form of… guardian angel. I planned to tie Slade closer to me and make him my personal assassin. I have quite a list, you know…"

"Shield and Shift… how…?" Robin asked.

"Oh, they didn't know. I used a middle man, just as I did when I hired Slade."

"But you couldn't know that they would call _me_! They might have taken the job themselves or send somebody else!" Robin objected.

"I have my ways of... making suggestions..."

"Hypnotism, Lex? Or maybe simply subliminal messaging?" Slade asked. "Is that how you make people buy stock in Lex Corp too?"

"Very funny, but yes… something like that. I wanted_ them_ to be blamed as well… when asked why they sent Robin, I wanted to make sure that they couldn't give a believable answer… that way, with a bit of luck, I would rid the world of them too. I never liked deserters."

"… but Slade didn't kill me…" Robin said thoughtfully.

"No, unfortunately not. But my plan would still work as long as you died… but it would work best if you died by accident; that way Slade would still blame himself for not being able to save you from something as simple as that. Unfortunately we had little time to prepare without you hearing or seeing anything, so only a land-slide could be set up, and then the tree. That was a mistake, however, as you not only survived, but discovered the wire. It was a rushed job and not too well done, I'm afraid. After that you knew you had enemies, so there was no reason to hide that fact. I still didn't want to send in the cavalry, though, because you were still heading in the right direction, and if I sent a helicopter, for example, you would have known that the item was either a fake or made useless by the chopper's electronic field, and if you veered off track, it might be difficult to find you again. I didn't have many men on this, after all, since it was all supposed to be over that first day."

"If you tell someone to shoot, you should make sure he has a clear shot…" Slade muttered, and it sounded like he was a bit annoyed at the man for criticizing his skills.

"I was afraid you would recognize him. I expected you to still take it," Luthor shrugged.

"Waste a bullet on just one man? And such a tiny one at that? I don't think so," Slade chuckled, while Robin elbowed him in the side.

"Shut up…" the teen growled.

"Oh, don't fight. You are such a cute couple," Luthor leered.

"So… you sent the guy in the woods to shoot us? Or well… me?" Robin said.

"In the woods? No," Luthor said. "Conny? Do you know anything about that?"

"Yes Sir, it was Jones," the blond answered. "He was on lookout duty. Must have stumbled across them."

"I see. Well, sometimes people's own initiatives pay off… and sometimes not. Is he here?"

"No," Robin said, "he was killed by a bear with a gun."

"Fascinating. I'm ashamed I have nothing as imaginative planned for you two…" the businessman said in a disappointed voice.

"Oh, I think trying to blow us up in a car was quite a nice touch," Robin muttered.

"Why, thank you. It was just a security-measure, though, I couldn't let you have it, you see… but I gave you a warning, after all… and I also couldn't let you find out that I was behind all of this, I wanted to make sure you thought it was a third party involved as long as possible… in fact, if one of my people hadn't forgotten to take his ring off when Slade came to the camp, none of you would be chained up right now."

"So… you would have let Slade go?" Robin blinked.

"Yes. I had planned to have his 'contact' speak to him here, get very upset when it turned out the box was empty, but not blame Slade… then we would have driven him back to you, only to find you killed by that 'third party', leading to Slade, again, feeling guilty, of course."

"You seem to rely a whole lot on that I_ have_ that ability…" the mercenary said flatly.

"After studying you for some time, I'm certain you do," the billionaire answered. "At least when it comes to young Robin…" he added as a bit of an afterthought.

"Yeah, he's a real teddy-bear. Let him loose and you'll see," Robin smirked. _No one_ was allowed to question Slade's bad-ass-ness but himself.

"I'm afraid I can't do that… but you have impressed me as well, Robin… you show _potential_."

"If you mention the term 'apprentice' this won't end well," the teen promised.

"Then I won't. But I'm still curious about you two, so I have decided on a little test…" the bald man seemed to enjoy himself immensely. "You see, I'm going to order my men to leave for a week. Robin will only survive for… two days at the most, I would say. Slade, you might still be alive in a week, though…"

"Poor Slade, he will get bored," Robin muttered.

"Not necessarily. You see, you _do_ have the saw… You can easily… well… _somewhat _easily, free yourselves at any time; all you have to do is cut one foot off. The manacles, as you can see, will easily fit through the hoop, and yes, you would have a chain around your foot, but that can quickly be removed with the right tools."

"And such tools can easily be found out here in the wilderness, and then one of us will just walk home? _Wonderful _idea, let's get started on it…" Robin deadpanned.

"I'll do better than that. I'll leave the tools here, as well as provisions for one and a car," the businessman smiled in a freakishly benevolent way.

Robin blinked and glanced at Slade. The man gave him a look back and a small shrug.

"Err… Lex? We don't get it," Robin admitted. "You are going to let one of us go? Or both, because we might still survive…"

"I doubt it. You are both in bad condition, and I won't leave you anything to bandage the wound with quickly enough. But feel free to try. I guess you will saw Slade's foot off, then?"

Robin only shuddered at the thought.

"It doesn't matter even if I do," the teen then said, "because I have a feeling the car will blow up… or the water is poisoned… you aren't just going to let us go. It would be stupid, because whoever it is will be out for you blood, and you aren't exactly hard to find," Robin growled. Slade grunted and nodded in agreement.

"That is precisely the point. I doubt either one of you will survive, but if you do, I don't think it will be with your mental health intact. But don't you worry. I will take care of you. I have many, many ways to put a broken mind back together again, and, in the end, you might very well become one of my most treasured employees." Robin and Slade gave equal snorts of derision, but Luthor still seemed very confident. "I give you my word, however, that there is nothing wrong with the car or the provisions… it even has a full tank."

"You know what? I've always told Superman that he has it good… I mean, me and Batman, we had to deal with the Joker, and the Riddler, and the Penguin… all completely insane… but congratulations, you're on that team now too," Robin told the man.

"I hope Slade doesn't knock you out before he starts sawing," the man smiled pleasantly.

"You're such a sweetheart," Robin sneered back.

"Stop flirting with him, I might begin to think you have a thing for criminals, and not just me…" Slade told the teen with a smirk.

"Never… my thing is_ just_ for you…" Robin grinned back.

"Disturbing," Luthor muttered. "Well, I will be very interested in what my men will find in a week. I'm going to ask them to take lots of pictures. And if one of you is missing… I will be waiting for you. You know you won't be able to stay away forever."

"That's right, we can practically make an appointment right now," Robin agreed. "Not within a week, though, because we have this…_ thing_, but shall we say… eight days? Something like that?"

"I'll make sure there's coffee," Luthor nodded with an amused look on his face. "I will see you soon, then… Slade?"

The mercenary only narrowed his eye. He wasn't much for bantering with the bad guy, and he admittedly didn't have much practice…

"I see it's time for another meeting. Goodbye, gentlemen… I hope you have some carpenter-experience…" The screen went black and there was a flurry of movement as it was all taken apart once more and packed away.

* * *

Slade and Robin watched in silence as the group of guards took down the tent and filled their cars up, all but one, as promised. It was an old, battered, open jeep they left behind, but at least it seemed to work.

"I wonder why there's no helicopter…" Robin said. "Not that I want one of those to land on me…"

"I don't know, but the concrete isn't fresh, this has been here a while. Either he's used this place before for something, or maybe it's an old military site," Slade said.

"Well, it's certainly out of the way," Robin shrugged. "Not even a seven-eleven around."

"I wouldn't mind seeing a McDonald's 'M' either," Slade admitted.

"I'll hold you to that… never thought you would succumb to the lure of junk food …" Robin smiled. "This though," he said, indicating the metal hoop, "this is newer, right? A chopper wouldn't want to land on this?"

"I think you're right… Luthor must have been thinking on his feet, getting this done, but with his resources, getting a chain, some metal, a drill and cement, is probably not that difficult…"

"I wish he had been cheap and went for rope," Robin declared.

"Likewise," Slade nodded.

* * *

Slade had been keeping a close eye on Robin, and he didn't like what he saw… well, apart from the lovely, naked body of course. For all his bravado the teen was tired, and he got weaker by the hour. Slade was starting to worry, but he didn't want to scare the young man by showing it. He had a plan, but if that didn't work… Slade wouldn't mind sawing his own foot off, he really wouldn't, but he didn't think Robin would let him. Besides, at this stage it was touch-and-go if the boy would have the energy to drive himself out of here, even _with _provisions. If he became more dehydrated it would take more than a bottle of water to save him.

If Robin died, or got so bad that he was beyond rescue… Slade didn't want to think about it, but he knew he had to. His logical side said to saw the teen's foot off, in that case, and leave, but deep inside… Slade thought he'd stay. If they came back in a week, fine. If not, fine. Not even revenge mattered enough to leave his princess.

* * *

"Well, it's been a hoot," the blond guard said as they were ready to leave. "See you in a week!"

"You better hope not," Robin muttered.

"There's food and water in the car, no tricks just as the boss promised. Oh, and I'll leave this there too… just because I'm such a nice guy," the guard continued, and held up Slade's eye-patch.

"You are practically a saint," the Titan snorted. "Why the hell did you take it anyway? What did you think he could hide in it? A gun? A grenade? A small atom bomb?"

"Oh, Robin, don't be ridiculous…" Slade smirked. "All I had in the patch was a flame-thrower."

"Oh, you were travelling light, then?" the teen grinned back.

The guard frowned, not enjoying being made fun of, but he_ did_ have it coming according to Robin.

"You could have… strangled someone with the string…" the blond muttered and threw the patch into the driver-seat of the car.

"Yes, we apologize. That's actually very likely," the mercenary shrugged.

"Yes, thank _god _you only gave him a _saw_ and kept that horrible patch away!" Robin chimed in. The guard didn't say another word to them, and soon they had all left, only leaving a cloud of dust behind.

"Alone at last," Robin exclaimed, but his grin was rather weak. "Sooo… just curious... can you drive with one foot?"

"Unless you want to play the kind of doctor I _don't_ want to play, I suggest none of us perform surgery," Slade said dryly.

"Love the idea! How do we get from here to the car, though?" the teen asked. Slade gave him the finger. "That really pissed you off that much?" Robin snorted. "Besides, that's the wrong fing- Slade I_ love_ you!"

"Let's not get carried away here…" the man smirked, "We don't even know if it will work."

"But… how did they_ miss_ it? They even took your patch!" Robin exclaimed and looked like he was on the verge of doing a little happy-dance.

"Part luck, part brilliance… on my side, that is…" Slade added just a _bit_ smugly as he pulled the ring off his little finger. "As I fought them, it turned out that there were more of them than I first thought. There was a chance things could go badly and I wanted to keep the ring to analyze it. Even though it wasn't my only clue to the enemy anymore, I am very interested in the chemical itself as it's much more powerful than any I have ever-"

"Are you going to get to the point anytime soon?" Robin asked dryly.

"I turned the ring around so only the back showed and tried to focus on keeping my fist closed. It then looked like a plain gold band and no-one noticed in on my finger… it's an old trick: hide things in plain sight," the mercenary explained, cutting to the chase.

"I'd say eighty-five percent luck and fifteen percent 'good idea'… it's not really brilliance, but it will do," the hero shrugged with a teasing grin.

"Maybe I should just leave you here…" Slade muttered.

"Ah, don't be grumpy… we still don't know if that powder will work on metal as well as it did on flesh…" Robin said.

"I know. I thought we'd target the metal hoop; that way there's both metal and concrete for it to hopefully react with."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Have you ever gnawed a chain off with your teeth?"

"No."

"Me neither. I don't think it can be done, but I'm damn well going to try," Slade muttered.

"And I'm… going to let you…" Robin chuckled tiredly.

"Well, here's to the hope of keeping my teeth, then…" Slade grinned and put the ring, fake stone down, at the joint between the metal and concrete and then pushed down, cracking the outer shell and releasing the fine, white powder. As expected absolutely nothing happened.

"Now to get it started…" Slade said.

"I hope you have some saliva, because I'm all out," his young partner told him.

"I think I can manage…The more the better though…" the man said and suddenly looked very strange, as he seemed to run his tongue across the inside of his mouth, biting his cheeks and chewing on his tongue.

"What are you doing? Performance anxiety?" Robin snickered.

"-ut up," the man answered between clenched teeth as he continued the process of gathering and producing as much spit as possible.

"You're sooooo sexy right now… _god,_ I want you…" Robin smirked, almost making Slade splutter. The teen continued to smirk even after the man gave him a death-glare worthy of the Bat himself.

As Slade spat out the fluid though, Robin clenched his fists and held his breath. When he saw something begin to sizzle he could just barely hold back a sob of relief.

"It's working! It's working, isn't it?" he looked up at Slade who studied the proceedings very intently.

"It seems so… but it's not nearly as effective as it was with living tissue," the man frowned.

"Even a little might help, though?" Robin asked hopefully.

"The metal might be set very deep-" Slade started, but then saw the look in the teen's eyes. "But yes, of course, every little bit helps. Why don't you try to rest for a while? The sun is setting and it will get cold soon. Are you badly burnt by the way?"

"In places that never should have seen the sun…" Robin snorted, but smiled as he got Slade to chuckle. "It's not too bad, actually. I tried to move so I didn't have just one side to the sun, or that would have been burnt to a crisp right now."

"My brave little princess… but you _are_ red all over," Slade told him.

"Please don't say that, I'm trying the 'what I don't know can't hurt me'-approach," Robin complained.

"Really? Strange saying. I have found that what you don't know will probably _kill_ you," the mercenary shrugged. "Now do as I say and rest."

"I don't want to miss any of the fun, and frankly, I'm afraid that you'll leave without me," Robin snorted and crossed his arms.

"I'm not going to abandon you. I owe you a spanking, remember? That will wake you up, if nothing else…" the man smirked.

Robin snorted and gingerly stretched out on his side. He was grateful that he had used the sunscreen so generously before setting off after Slade, because that must have helped to protect him at least for the first day. But yes, he was red. Slade, however, was only more bronzed. Sometimes Robin hated him.

He watched Slade as he gripped the hoop and tried to move it. Nothing much seemed to happen, but the mercenary didn't give up easily. The powder had eaten away at both the concrete and the metal, and as Robin's eyes started to droop, the man continued to pull, kick and try to twist the hoop. The teen wanted to help, but he knew he couldn't do much good. He was too weak. He hated that feeling, but there was nothing much he could do about it other than lay around like the princess Slade claimed he was, watching his supposed prince doing all the work. Well, with Slade's muscles bulging and flexing like that, he at least had something to look at.

Suddenly, with a screeching sound, the hoop twisted in the concrete. It only moved a little bit, but enough to make Robin sit up, his exhaustion instantly forgotten.

He didn't say anything, he was almost afraid to, like he might jinx it.

Slade continued to work, but for another half hour nothing more happened. Then, as it was almost dark, the metal suddenly gave away. It happened so abruptly that Slade fell backwards, and the chain around Robin's ankle was tugged harshly, making him yelp as it felt like his leg was about to get dislocated.

That short-lived discomfort paled by the euphoria of being free, however, and Robin shot to his feet, hugging Slade hard. He was then hoisted up in the man's arms and promptly carried to the car, even though that wasn't strictly necessary.

Slade gathered some things and then, surprisingly, took Robin away from the car again.

"Err… what?" the teen asked as he was put down behind a low hill some distance from the previous camp.

"I'm going to check the jeep," Slade told him, snapping the chain linking them with a heavy-duty bolt cutter. "I want you to say here. Eat and drink, but_ slowly_, understand?" the man told him, and handed him a bottle of water and a few nutrition-bars, but not before smelling and tasting them himself.

"You… think it could be a trap? That it might explode?" Robin asked worriedly.

"I've worked with Luthor on several occasions and he's usually sticks to the rules as long as he has set them himself. I know these old jeeps from the inside out, though, so if there's anything wrong with it, I'll find it."

Robin just nodded, trusting the man's judgment.

The water was the best thing he had ever tasted. The teen forced himself to only take small gulps and nibble on the bar, but he wanted to just tip the bottle back and drain it. His body wouldn't be able to handle that, though, and it would probably end with him throwing it all up. He was so focused on the water that he didn't even notice how much time had passed until Slade appeared and declared that the car was all clear. Robin felt guilty about not worrying for the man's safety, but there were other things to worry about instead.

"Slade?"

"Yes?"

"We have water and a bit of food and a car, and that's great, but…"

"But?"

"There' a wedding in six days, on the other side of the continent, and we don't have any money for more food or gas… and we're naked."

"Hmmm… yes… this will be an interesting road-trip, don't you think?" Slade grinned. "Besides, there's a certain someone who needs to be dealt with."

"I know, I'd love to get revenge on Luthor too… " Robin muttered.

"Luthor? I'm talking about you …" Slade smirked.

_To Be Continued…_

* * *

A/N: Ta-da! There it is! Was it unexpected? Does it seem all weird and wrong? Me and Jayto discussed this and we preferred a canon character instead of an OC, and we needed someone who could be involved in pretty much anything, and we thought he fit. Tell us if we were wrong (well, me, mainly… ;) ) and it doesn't make sense at all… damn, if it doesn't, I have just ruined this story… this is scary… I'm not sure I wanna post it now…


	13. Does Your Mother Know?

**A/N: **Well, um… I was 100% sure that it was Thursday today… but it's not. It's Friday… just realized… so after FINALLY going through Jayto's last corrections for this chapter; here it is! Thank you Jayto, I'm sorry you have to work with a person who can't even figure out the day of the week…

* * *

**Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm**

**Chapter 13: Does Your Mother Know?**

"Well, I'm not telling Bruce," Robin said.

"Good, because I'm not telling Rose," Slade agreed.

"… not the Titans either," the teen added. "At least not until after we have sorted this thing out."

"We can't kill him, you know," Slade frowned. "It would create more problems than the maggot is worth."

"Slade and Luthor sitting in a tree…" Robin sang and then yelped as the proposed tree-sitter slapped his naked ass. "Ow! I know, I know… Batman explained that to me when I was a kid… sometimes there's a balance, and disturbing that can create havoc. Sometimes it's worth it, however… not that I would really _kill_ him… I wouldn't mind coming _close_, though."

"You are sexy when you are blood-thirsty, have I ever told you that?" the mercenary smirked, making Robin chuckle.

"Down boy… so what do we do? Drive back to Jump? Drive across the country to Gotham?"

"There's not enough gas to even make it to Jump, but we _could_ make it to Carson City. I have contacts there. We both need a few days to rest and heal, though, so I'd say we'll fly to Gotham a day before the wedding."

"Sounds good. Are there naked flights? Naked, _free_ flights?"

"I said I had contacts. Until then, though, we might have to be... creative. Can I trust you not to make a fuss about that?"

"No one gets hurt."

"Fine."

"Well, then I'm all behind you."

"I would prefer it the other way."

"You would."

"Yes. But I'm sensitive to your weakened condition," Slade smirked. "Now, if we are pulled over by the police it won't do much good, but let's see what we can do about our involuntary naturist state."

"I can't believe they didn't leave our clothes!" Robin muttered.

"We could have used them to bandage the stump if we had chosen to use the saw," Slade shrugged. The man had retrieved his eye-patch when he had searched the car and seemed comfortable enough. "It makes perfect sense to take them."

"Sure, be on _their_ side…" the teen snorted.

While Robin watched, Slade cut a hole in the seats in the back of the car, and then ripped the fake leather off in two wide strips. They ended up looking only slightly more decent but decisively more stupid in their mini leather towel-skirts, but, as Slade said, it might not get them shot on sight. At least not in the dark.

"Clothes should be a first priority," the man decided. "Without them we can't even enter a city."

"But without money…?"

"We have to be creative," Slade shrugged. He didn't have any answers either at the moment.

* * *

It was half past nine in the evening and they were coming closer to inhabited areas. Robin had enjoyed the cool wind on his red skin, but, of course, not having any clothes wasn't ideal… There were lights up ahead and they could see a gas-station sign. Slade slowed in and stopped by the side of the road.

"Okay, Robin, this is it… We're going to rob it."

"Slade… you know when I said I wouldn't make a fuss?"

"Yes?"

"I kinda want to make one."

"We are not taking any money. It's clearly a big place, they will have t-shirts, maybe swim shorts or something like that, there's always something for the tourists… Some food and water, perhaps, if there's time. We'll be quick."

"And they will call the police the moment we're out the door… and do you think it will be that hard for them to describe us? I propose using our natural resources."

"I'm afraid to ask."

"Charm, Slade, _charm_! Well… _my _charm. _You_'ll stay in the car."

"And do you think that will work?"

"If not, I'll come running… just stay here, okay?"

"Don't get shot."

"I won't. Do I look miserable?" the teen asked as he turned to the man with a sorrowful expression on his face.

"Like a kicked and starved puppy who just found out he is to be cat-food," the man chuckled.

"Good. People don't shoot starving puppies."

"Actually-"

"Shut up, Slade! Let me think there's still some good in this world, okay?"

"No one shoots puppies. Ever. Anywhere."

"Thank you."

Robin got out of the car. Having spent the last hour sipping water and nibbling on food he felt somewhat better, and the short walk up to the gas-station wasn't that taxing.

The whole store had a glass wall facing the gas-pumps so Robin could clearly see the teenage girl manning the register and the elderly couple browsing the canned goods aisle. There was a RV outside, probably belonging to them. There was a rack of t-shirts just inside the store with pictures of the dessert and things, Robin saw, and that was reason enough to try his luck. He started limping slightly as he entered the lit up area surrounding the station, and headed towards the door.

As he opened it, and was announced by the electrical door-chime, the girl looked up and startled. First, probably, because she hadn't heard a car, and secondly… well… he _was _practically naked.

"Hi," Robin said and stopped just inside the door, hoping he looked very embarrassed. "I… err… I know how this looks… well… I _don't_… but I swear I'm not high or drunk or anything!"

"I have an alarm-button!" the young woman told him, and now the elderly couple, early retirement-age, Robin guessed, peered out from behind a shelf.

"Yes, Miss," Robin nodded. "Sir, Ma'am," he added to the couple. "and I wouldn't blame you if you pushed it, but could I just stay right here and explain? Or I could go stand outside, if you can hear me from there?" he turned on the kicked puppy look on full effect.

"Well… okay… just stay there, alright?" the cashier said. She was clearly very curious, and, Robin thought, she seemed kinda interested in his chest and abs too… it made him feel slightly dirty, but in a good way.

"Okay, so me and my mates were in Vegas, right? We were in a poker-tournament and Matt, that's my pal, Matt and I did really well. Oh, I'm Rick, by the way, Rick Wilson. So, last night we partied a _lot _and in the car back today… well… we were pretty obnoxious to our friends, really… we were bragging and stuff, because they wiped out early… so we stopped a few miles from here for a break… me and Matt fell asleep, since we've been up all night and… yeah… well, we wake up _naked_ and they have taken off… taking everything with them…"

There was a chuckle from the man and Robin did a little triumphant dance in his head before continuing.

"Yeah, well, so they let us sleep in the sun all afternoon the bastards," Robin growled, gesturing to his red skin, hoping no one would question why both his front _and_ back was burned. "They left a phone, so we could call another friend and he is gonna pick us up in a few hours, but… well… we can't really wait around for him like this, or we're gonna get arrested for sure…" Robin glanced up at the girl who now seemed more relaxed and a bit amused. The old couple had also dared to come forward, the woman tut-ing quietly to herself. "So… I was wondering about the t-shirts… and if there are any shorts or something? The thing is, we don't have any money, but I'll give you my name and address, and if I can get this place's address, I'll send it within a week, I promise!"

"I… I don't know… I might get in trouble… I'm new…" the girl said. "And we only have t-shirts…"

"Oh… yeah…. I mean… well, okay… yeah, I guess I could ask you to call the police so they can help us, but I don't really want to get my friends in trouble… I mean, we were real assholes, and it's not like they have _stolen_ our stuff or anything, it was just a prank…" Robin bit his lip and looked down, clasping his middle with his arms and hunching his shoulders, trying to look as devastated and hopeless as possible.

"Why don't we get them a couple of shirts, dear?" the woman suddenly said. "And don't you have a few extra sweatpants?"

"Oh, ma'am I really don't want to trouble you!" Robin said quickly.

"Oh, hush, there's no trouble!"

"Well, if I get your name and address, I could-"

"Don't worry about it son, me and Mrs. Cooper here just got a great story to tell, haven't we?" the man rumbled, and Robin grinned.

"Now, what size is your friend? Where is he by the way?"

"Err… extra large…. and… well… we only found this thing along the road, so…." Robin said and gestured to his meager protection. "So he couldn't really come with me… We passed a few houses on the way, but we didn't dare to go ring the bell like this… we would be shot on sight… It was pretty scary really…" he let his voice tremble little, cementing the older woman's maternal instincts. The young woman behind the counter, however, had decided that she didn't want to look like a bad Samaritan.

"I really can't give you stuff, but… like would you want a soda? The staff are allowed a free soda every pass."

"Oh, I'd love some… or even some tap water, if I can have a paper mug for Matt?" He could, it turned out, and two sandwiches as well.

Robin then bid farewell to the girl, apologizing yet again for scaring her, and followed the retired couple out to their RV. The teen pretended to be seriously impressed with it, and, as he had thought, the vehicle turned out to be their pride and joy. The man went on about the motor and the way 'she' handled, and the woman talked about the interior like the cabinets and all their appliances. Robin was left alone for a moment to change into a new t-shirt with a plastic print, silently wondering why it seemed to be his fate to end up in tourist-garments when he was around Slade, and a pair of worn, but clean, sweatpants, which were much too big for him, but he wouldn't even consider complaining about anything like that.

"Can't I_ please_ have your name and address?" he begged the couple one last time as they were about to leave. He had a plastic bag containing Slade's clothes, the sandwiches and a maxi-sized paper-cup of soda in each hand. The couple had even given them two pairs of plastic flip-flops and, as the woman had been worried about his sun burn, a bottle of some aloe cream which she claimed to be 'the only thing for it'. "We really must repay you for this!"

"Nonsense. Now you stay out of trouble, young man!" the woman jokingly reprimanded him. "No more gambling!"

"No ma'am!" Robin grinned.

"Don't be so hard on him dear, the boy _won_, didn't he?" her husband chuckled.

Robin raised a mug in greeting as they drove off, and then hobbled back into the dark, toward the car.

It had taken some time to convince the couple that they didn't need to stick around and wait for 'Rick's and Matt's' ride, because Robin didn't think Slade could ever pull off 'teen returning from Vegas'. He was glad they hadn't questioned _his_ age.

"I see charm goes a long way…" Slade grinned as Robin came up to the jeep and handed him a mug.

"Yeah, it does, " Robin grinned and told the man what had happened. "I have a last name and a license plate you have to help me to remember. We are definitely paying them back… and then some."

"You sound like you want to send them your trust-fund," Slade snorted.

"Love to, but I thought… how about a thousand? Each?"

"Each?"

"Damn, you're cheap, Slade! You know what? I'll pay you back dollar for dollar… in blow-jobs."

"Let's make it ten thousand each," the man smirked.

"Deal."

Slade narrowed his eye at the grinning teen.

"You wanted to give them more from the start, didn't you?"

"Of course! They are angels! And Mrs. Cooper needed new upholstery or something… Now… I need you to cover me in something white and sticky…"

* * *

"I still say that you shouldn't get a man's hopes up," Slade muttered as he drove. He was dressed in a horrid t-shirt with a suggestive cactus motif, as well as a pair of sweatpants which were much to slim for his muscled thighs and threatened to burst at the seams at any moment.

"I loved the expression on your face when I handed you the cream," the teen grinned.

"Still got you naked and got to touch you everywhere."

"Yes you did. And you were very good," Robin chuckled.

"You owe me… and for using my name as well."

"I wish I hadn't told you that! I just wanted something that didn't sound like 'John Smith', but still wasn't something like 'Agamemnon Honeysuckle the third'.

"Are you saying my name isn't memorable?"

"I'm_ sure_ it is… For people who have actually _met_ you," Robin groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Thank you. And you can borrow it again. Sparsely."

"Much obliged," Robin muttered and yawned. "I feel like I can sleep for a year."

"No, you are not going to rest until the next bottle of water is empty," Slade told him.

"'My Lover Forced Me To Drink!'" Robin gasped in his best dramatic front-page voice. "'Millionaire Ward Richard Grayson reveals the truth!'"

"'He deserved it, Deathstroke says after leaving maimed body on highway.''" Slade countered, making Robin burst out laughing.

"Slade?"

"Yes?"

"I… " Robin stopped and seemed to change his mind. "I'm just _so _glad we're not camping anymore."

The mercenary glanced at the teen next to him and then smiled.

"It wasn't really the nice break it was supposed to be, huh?"

"Definitely not," Robin agreed resolutely.

Slade was quiet for a while before adding;

"The bear-thing was funny, though."

* * *

They arrived in Carson City an hour or so before sunrise. Even clothed they still looked nowhere near presentable enough to just walk around openly, especially Slade, as the back of his head was still caked with blood. Fortunately it seemed to be the weekend, Robin had actually somewhat lost track of the weekdays, and there were a few people around, heading home after a long night of fun. Robin got the dubious honor of swiping a cell-phone off one of them, and actually managed to pick it off the man, hand it to Slade in the car and then talk with the drunk while Slade used the phone, before returning the item to its owner. Robin_ liked_ that kind of theft.

"So, did you get a hold of your contact?"

"Yes. We're to meet him outside the city in three hours. Let's go. We'll park somewhere out of the way until then."

"Can I sleep now?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"Well, I don't want a cranky princess, do I?" the man smirked.

"I'd hit you, but I'm too tired…" Robin mumbled and leaned back against the seat.

* * *

Robin had to admit that Slade's contact had really come through. Not only did the mercenary now have a driver's license, a phone and cash, they also had a few sets of more respectable clothes and shoes, as well as a few hygiene and medical products.

Wearing sunglasses, and, in Slade's case, a sun hat to hide his hair, they checked into a rather large hotel, but chose one of the middle-prized double rooms they had, not wanting to draw too much attention to themselves. Robin noticed some looks anyway, and called Slade 'uncle', which seemed to clear things up for the receptionist.

"Uncle?" Slade said in the elevator.

"Well, she gave us a look… what should I have said?"

"'Daddy' is sexier," Slade shrugged.

"You are such a horrible old man," Robin snorted.

"Oh, if you only _knew_…" the man smirked.

"Oh, now you made me curious!" the teen complained.

"If you are good, I might tell you," the mercenary shrugged.

"Yes, daddy!" Robin grinned.

* * *

The room had both a bath and a separate shower-cabin, which was a surprising standard but very welcome. Robin rinsed off most of the grime while the bath filled and then sank down into the cool water to soothe his skin while Slade took a much more thorough shower.

After almost managing to drown himself in the tub, Robin was forced out of it, and given a few pills for the pain and any mild infection he might have contracted. After that Slade slathered a thick layer of more aloe-cream on him, and then Robin promptly fell down on a bed and slept for twenty four hours.

* * *

Robin woke as he was getting a fresh coat of burn-cream applied, and opened a bleary eye.

"I was gonna pamper_ you_!"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll get your chance…" Slade chuckled. "You are lucky. There are no blisters. You will be red, probably for a few weeks, and peel in a very unattractive way, but the only one to pity here is really me, who has to _look_ at you in the mean while…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love you too…" Robin muttered.

"Yes, so you've said."

Robin glanced up at the man, but got only a quick smirk before Slade walked out of his line of vision. The teen groaned and rolled over. He was too tired to deal with the man anyway. His stomach rumbled and he groaned again. He was too tired to eat!

"I'm going to order room service," he heard Slade say. "But first I need to take your picture."

"That's not much of a pick-up line…" Robin mumbled.

"You are completely naked and sprawled on a bed… I don't really _need_ a pick up line," the man chuckled.

"But you need to take photos of me?" Robin tried to shake the fogginess out of his head, but it insisted on sticking around.

"We are flying out of here in three days, and you need an ID."

"Ah."

"Yes. Put on a t-shirt and stand against the wall."

Robin rolled out of bed, wincing as it felt like his skin had shrunk and was going to rip open any moment. He eventually managed to find his way into the t-shirt Slade pulled over his head and then leaned against the white wall.

"You look like hell. If I sent a photo like this to Bruce, he would have me killed," Slade muttered and ran his hands through the teen's hair, trying to improve the image. "At least you didn't burn your face too badly."

"You have to work on your flattering-skills…" the teen muttered. "So, is your guy gonna make the ID?"

"Yes, it's his camera, but he needs the photo as soon as possible, because it will take a while to have it done."

"He was quick with _yours_…" Robin pointed out with a yawn.

"He didn't make mine, he only went to a safety deposit box I'm renting here and got it, along with the money," the man explained. "Now smile… or at least don't look dead."

Robin tried his best and after about twenty shots Slade was happy.

"Good… now get on the bed and we'll take some for _me_…" the man smirked.

"Do what you want, just get me food…" Robin muttered and collapsed on the mattress again.

After a nap to finish off his long sleep, they had lunch, and after that the teen began to feel more like himself again. He kept walking around naked and covered in the aloe-cream, which was obviously driving Slade crazy. Robin only grinned, however, because even though he was feeling better, his libido was still a bit away from being awakened, especially since it rather hurt to move.

"Do we have any aspirin?" he asked, and Slade fetched him a few and a glass of water.

"I'm going out," the man then said. "There's a 'do not disturb'-sign on the door, but slip some shorts on to be safe."

"They are too big…" Robin muttered petulantly, a bit put off that Slade hadn't asked him to come, while, at the same time, he felt that he wasn't quite up for it.

"I didn't quite have the time to tell my contact that my companion had a very small, tight little ass," Slade smirked. "Although I normally love to brag about it to everyone I meet."

Robin threw a pillow at the man's face at that point.

* * *

The days to their departure passed slowly, the two of them mainly eating and resting. Robin fantasized about bathing in a tub full of aloe-cream, but with aspirin the pain was bearable.

The teen had also spent some time tracking down the nice retired couple, and, after some more help from Slade's contact, the Coopers would return home from their holiday to a very nice surprise. He had included a thank-you card saying "To our guardian angels; we thought you deserved some of our poker-winnings /Rick and Matt". He hoped the couple would only be happy, especially if they thought 'Rick and Matt' had hit it really big and wouldn't miss the money.

Robin had also called Bruce, and a few hours later Slade had called Rose, so they wouldn't worry. They did it separately, though, because they didn't want the couple to start asking questions. Robin asked his guardian to pass the message on to the Titans too, saying that they would all meet at Wayne Manor the day before the wedding.

After finding out it was a black tie event, Slade and Robin decided to do their shopping in Carson instead of hurrying around in Gotham, and so they ventured outside at last. The teen noticed that even though Slade didn't limp, he hadn't quite regained the ease of movement he associated with the man. Even so, it was a vast improvement and Robin was sure, now, that Slade would soon be completely healed once more.

Finding something for the man to wear when there was no real time to do alterations, wasn't easy, but they did it. Robin had a bit of a problem himself, due to his height, but shortening a pair of trousers slightly was so much easier than fitting a pair of very wide shoulders into a too-small jacket.

In the end they both looked presentable, though, and Robin couldn't help but smile at the mercenary. He suspected he looked just a_ little_ bit smitten, but _damn_, the man was handsome!

"Like what you see?" Slade asked smugly.

"Yes… and I hate Lex so much… If I wasn't this sunburned…"

"I hate him too…" Slade said after thinking things over. "Screw the consequences. So what if the world economy might take a nose-dive if Lex-Corp goes down… let's kill the bastard."

"Yeah, we can't… but I'm going to think of _something_…" Robin growled. "Trust me…"

"The look in your eyes right now… it scares even me…" Slade chuckled.

* * *

As they came back to the hotel room, Robin was walking stiffly, due to the clothes chafing on his skin.

"Do you want me to put more lotion on?" Slade asked and Robin nodded as he started shedding his clothes on the way to the bathroom.

"I'm just going to take a shower first," he stopped in the doorway and hesitated for a moment. "Wanna join me?"

"You obviously want me dead…" Slade snorted.

"No, I… well, I thought I'd start paying back my debt," the hero grinned.

"That couldn't hurt…" the man grinned.

"Exactly my point," Robin snickered.

* * *

They kissed. The water from the shower drenched them with cool, but not cold, water, serving to sooth Robin's skin but not anything else. The teen could feel Slade restraining himself, the man's muscles actually trembling while fighting the urge to just grab him. Any firmer touch would hurt though, and the man's hands had to be as light as feathers if he wanted any contact at all. Kissing without pressing up against each other was strange, but at the same time, also a bit erotic… Like Robin's body was forbidden, out of bounds, and still the teen ached to give himself to his lover. Robin could touch as much as he wanted, though… A small part of him enjoyed the game, the teasing. For a moment he considered saying something like 'wasn't that the phone?' and just leave, to teach the man a lesson, but no. They had been through too much for childish revenges like that.

Robin let a hand slip down Slade's body and wrap around his very hard length. He enjoyed the low grunt the man couldn't hold back, as well as the bolt of pleasure in his own groin. Backing the mercenary out of the shower, Robin sank down to sit on the edge of the tub, bringing him down to the perfect height without hurting himself too much.

The man's cock twitched in his grip and Robin smiled at the angry red, almost purple, leaking head.

"Did you miss me? Yes, you did, didn't you?" he grinned and ran a thumb over the tip.

Slade growled something unintelligible and his hips thrust forward a bit before he regained control of himself.

"You missed my hands, right? And my lips… and my tongue… I'm going to kiss you and you'll be happy again, won't you?" Robin continued to tease, before bending his head down and kissing the tip slowly. Robin ran his lips all over the sensitive skin, licking, and giving small, sucking kisses, before he started kissing his way down the man's whole shaft. He mouthed the man's balls as well and then took his time licking up the length before, while glancing up at Slade from under his eye-lashes, the teen sucked the head into his mouth. Robin closed his eyes and just enjoyed the sensation and taste. He loved sucking the man off, and this time he had decided to deep-throat him as well. What was a little more soreness, anyway? Besides, Slade had earned it.

The teen's hands caressed the mercenary's hips and thighs, skirting carefully over the ugly scar in case it still hurt. The wound had closed completely now and wasn't even that red anymore, but Robin was pretty sure it would leave some sort of mark in the end. He let the cock go and gave the scar a quick feathery kiss. As he looked up on the man, Slade smiled down on him, and caressed his hair. Robin smiled back and then took the cock into his mouth again. After drawing a deep breath and relaxing, he swallowed the head all the way down his throat.

He felt the man tensing, another sound of surprise emitting from him, as he had clearly not expected the move. Robin chuckled, a sound that couldn't be quite heard, but the man could obviously_ feel_ it. Deciding not to tease him anymore, Robin started to move his head, letting the cock fuck his throat at a fast pace. It got easier with each thrust and the teen enjoyed the pleasure-pain as well, to the point that he thought he could come from the smallest of touches. He held back, though, because he thought Slade would not mind returning the favor.

Soon the man tensed and Robin felt the first surge of cum rushing down his throat. He pulled back only a little, so the next shot would land on his tongue, and suckled the head carefully until the very last drops. He licked his lips and smiled.

"Only nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine to go…" he grinned.

"You _are _going to kill me…" the man panted.

"Death by blowjobs…" the teen chuckled.

"I'll die happy, that's for sure…" Slade shrugged with a grin and then helped Robin up. "Now let's see how happy I can make _you_."

Very happy as well, as it turned out.

_To be Continued…_

A/N: Look! Slash! Okay, not full out-super graphic, perhaps, but come on! You have been waiting so long for it! And there will be more, don't worry... ;)


	14. Dancing Queen

A/N: Hello! Yes, it's Thursday, I've started working, remember? So far so good… ;) Jayto has checked this chapter once, but since I'm posting early there has been no time for a second check… hopefully things are ok, though… ;)

This is the second-to-last chapter, by the way, enjoy!

Oh, and if I may recommend a story? Tinclay PM'd me the other day, talking about a SladinX-story (not sure if that will be the true pairing, but you'll see when you read it.

It's called **"Boundless"** by** Press528491 **and since the search engine is down, here's the address, just remove the spaces: www. fanfiction. net/s/6870320/1/Boundless#

Leave a review, and, I know I've said this before, but still: I almost never search for Sladin-stories… I read mostly original and Harry Potter Stories myself, though I, of course, LOVE Sladin… maybe I just write it so much I look for other fandoms to read? I don't know, but if you have written or read a Sladin story (needs to be slash and not a crossover) which you want to recommend, please do! Don't think I'm ignoring your story; it's simply that I don't know that it's out there! I also try to give helpful reviews, at least try to say WHAT I liked especially, but sometimes I too write "YAY! UPDATE" because we're all humans and we're not always reading when we're awake enough to form sentences… ;) Forgive me.

* * *

**Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm**

**Chapter 14: Dancing Queen**

One day later they boarded the plane to Gotham. They had no problems with security, even though Robin thought his picture on his new fake ID looked a bit shifty. On the other hand, ID-pictures always did…

Robin was so used to his skin stinging that he barely noticed anymore. The aloe seemed to work wonders, and besides, you couldn't be a superhero if you couldn't ignore a sun-burn.

He settled into his assigned chair for the long flight and glanced at Slade next to him, giving the man a small smile. They were flying economy-class, just to draw the least amount of attention to themselves, and it was crowded and noisy. Slade didn't look happy when someone kicked the back of his chair and Robin's smile turned into a chuckle.

"What?" Slade muttered.

"It was_ your_ decision…" Robin grinned.

"And it was the right one," the man said.

"Yes, but I bet your knees don't agree with you," the hero snickered. "Anyway, Alfred is picking us up at the airport, and then it's all luxury for a few days."

Robin had told Bruce that he and Slade were to meet at the airport, coming in with different flights at almost the same time. They were a couple of sorts, after all, so it wasn't strange that they had arranged to arrive together. Neither of them wanted to reveal that they had, in fact, been together this whole time, not until they had, as decided, taken care of a few things. They both thought it was a private matter, only concerning them, and they didn't want anyone else involved.

The flight was uneventful. Slade suggested that Robin would lower his debt to the next level, which now happened to be nine thousand nine hundred and ninety seven, but Robin refused. There was no way he was going to try to fit into the tiny bathroom with Slade, and all the seats around them were occupied. He didn't want to be thrown off the plane, after all. Instead he napped against the man's arm, drooling a bit on his shirt, or at least so Slade claimed.

The wedding, they had found out, would take place at Wayne Manor. Slade had muttered about Bruce being cheap, but the couple had wanted a private ceremony, not only for themselves but for the sake of their guests. Many from the JL would attend, as well as the Titans, and no matter if they chose to come in uniform or not, their identities would be safe this way.

Alfred was picking them up as part of the safety measurements, and even Slade had had nothing to complain about when the butler had explained everything to them. Most guests were going to arrive through different routes the day before just as Robin and Slade. Only the manors servants would be working, all trusted almost as much as the butler himself, and the food would be set up as a buffet to minimize the work required by the staff.

To ward off the media, a public wedding-reception had been scheduled the day after at a four-star hotel in Gotham. It was just a show, but also important for Bruce's business contacts, and, the man had hinted, it would be good if Dick Grayson would make an appearance. Robin didn't mind, especially after his scare with Luthor; the photos from that reception would appear in every newspaper and gossip-rag around the world, again showing the world what young Mr. Grayson looked like nowadays.

The day after that the newlyweds would go on their honeymoon, something Robin thought did bode well for the future… Bruce taking time off, from _both_ full-time jobs? That was rare. He liked that Rose could make the man do that… not that the teen thought that she was exactly twisting his arm.

He liked Rose. Well, he did _now_. It bothered him that Slade didn't like Bruce, but, on the other hand, Robin was pretty sure it was mostly a front. He didn't think the mercenary had any _real_ dislike for the hero, more than the fact that, yes, it wasn't exactly safe to be married to one… on the other hand, if Bruce had _just_ been a billionaire business-man, Robin didn't think Slade would have liked him any better. He suddenly remembered something the man had said and chuckled.

"What so funny?" Slade, who had been staring morosely down on a platter of dry chicken, asked.

"Well, I just thought of something… you know your bike, the Harley?"

"You mean _your_ bike?" the man pointed out.

"Yes, _my _bike…" Robin grinned. "Do you remember what you said when I told you that Cy was perving on her?"

"No?"

"You said that the bike was like a daughter to you, and you'd rather not have a Teen Titan for a son-in-law…" Robin snickered. "And now you will have a JL-member instead..." the teen teased Slade quietly. The noise in the cabin masked their conversation, but it paid to be on the safe side.

"Well..." Slade sighed. "As long as the Tin Man keeps his hands off my bike..."

"_My_ bike."

"Right."

"We could have shared custody?" Robin suggested with a teasing smirk.

"Good idea. I think she misses me."

"Who wouldn't miss you riding them?" the teen smirked.

"Don't do that here, I don't have enough room in this seat as it is," the man snorted. "Not to say that I'm not happy that you have put that little misunderstanding behind you."

"Which one? The one where you walked out on me, or the one where you went against- mmpf!"

"Either one," Slade said, keeping his hand clamped over Robin's mouth. "Remember, princess, that if you get angry at me, Lex has won."

The teen's eyes widened a little and then he blinked before the blue orbs turned sharp once more.

"Mmmhp!"

"Now, you know it's true. Not another word," Slade told his little lover seriously before releasing him. Robin was, of course, not going to obey.

"So, what you are saying is that if I _ever_ get angry at you again, I'll be playing into Luthor's hands?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's a load of-" the hero suddenly became quiet, and then a smirk lit up his sullen face. "Actually it's quite true."

"It is?" Slade asked, not liking that look.

"Yes... because Slade, my dear tiger... it works both ways."

* * *

Slade spent most of the rest of the flight trying to get out of his own trap, but Robin wouldn't let him and only smirked at the man's attempts to twist his logic reasoning until it screamed, just to have it not apply to him.

"But Slade, I never said I'd hold you to it!" Robin pointed out just before they landed.

"Oh, but you would…"

"Yes, probably," the teen shrugged with an apologetic grin. He wound an arm under one of Slade's and held on. "Anything to keep you on a leash."

The man only muttered something about an overdue spanking.

* * *

Alfred met them, as planned, and Robin chattered like an excited eight-year old all the way to Wayne Manor. Once there, they were swept up by the gathering guests, the last minute preparations, and, of course, the soon-to-be husband and wife.

There were questions, of course, like why Robin yelled out when someone slapped him on the back, and, when _that_ was explained, why he had been sunburned in the first place. The teen waved the question away quite easily, but Slade had a somewhat more difficult time when Rose confronted him after dinner.

"Dad, are you hurt? You winced when you got up and you are walking a little stiffly."

Robin had noticed it to. The long flight in the cramped space had made the small limp come back, but it wasn't obvious. Rose, however, had sharp eyes.

"Oh, love," Bruce cut in, "I don't think you want your father to explain what it means when gay men walk funny."

Robin stopped breathing. He was okay with jokes, really, but this time his mentor had crossed the line by a mile. They were going to have to scrape him off the walls with spatulas. The teen closed his eyes. He didn't want to watch yet another parent die.

"Bruce!" Rose hissed.

"It's quite alright... don't knock it 'till you've tried it, Bruce..." Slade smirked and turned to Robin who had opened one eye a little. "Shall we retire for the night?"

"I...umm... yes?" the teen squeaked.

Slade put an arm lightly around the young man's waist and led him toward the stairs, leaving Bruce and Rose staring after them.

"You... you..." Robin lost his train of thought and his words at the same time.

"Yes?" the man prompted, as he opened the door to the guestroom they shared.

"You let him think that... that I... that you... and you didn't kill him! Why didn't you kill him? Who are you and what have you done to Slade?"

"I was just impressed that he had the balls to go there," the man shrugged. "I'm not saying that I'm going to encourage him making jibes about our sex-life in the future, of course."

"Yes, but he suggested that you would... would..."

"Bottom?"

"Yes!"

"So? Like I've told you before, I never bottom, but that's a preference of mine, it's not because I find it shameful. Do you feel ashamed for bottoming? Do you feel I humiliate you when we have sex?"

"What? No! But..."

"But..?"

"You really don't feel that? That it would make you... you know... less of a man?"

"I haven't noticed that effect on_ you_... have you?" the man smirked.

"But... you call me your princess..." Robin mumbled.

"It was meant to be teasing at first, not emasculating, and then it stuck... it's a pet-name... I thought you said you liked it? Do you want me to stop using it?"

Robin thought about it for a while and then blushed. "... no..." he mumbled.

"Good. Because I wasn't going to," the man smirked. "Now, to business. Drop your pants."

"But... what... now?" Robin blinked.

"Of course. You promised."

"I promised? What? I didn't- oh, no..."

"Oh, yes. It's time to pay, Princess," Slade smirked and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Pants down and get over my knee. _Now_."

"I bet you can't even remember the reason you wanted to spank me in the first place!" Robin objected and crossed his arms.

"For including me in the description 'lowly, filthy, single-minded mercenaries'," Slade answered immediately. "And, of course, running after an armed man without thinking first, and generally annoying me on occasion. Now hurry up or you won't be able to sit during the wedding-dinner tomorrow."

Robin glared at his lover, but it was clear that Slade wouldn't give in. Why the heck had he promised he'd let the man do this?

"I wish we were still dying in the desert..." he muttered and went to lock the door while unbuttoning his pants.

"Don't pout, you know you deserve it," the man half growled, half chuckled as he pulled the hero down over his lap.

"You can't tell me_ this_ isn't to humiliate me..." the teen growled.

"I'm not. Saying that, I mean," Slade chuckled and caressed Robin's ass. "Now, I think twenty swats will be enough. I'm being lenient, since your bottom is already somewhat red."

"Yeah, well, thank you, Master..." Robin muttered. "Just don't expect me to play al- OW!"

"Now, I know it's strange for you, not enjoying yourself when you have your ass in the air, but it _is_ a punishment after all..." the man told him lightly as swat after swat landed on the teen's behind. The hits weren't quite as hard as the first time Slade had spanked him, but they were more than hard enough.

"Ow! Don't-AH! Talk... like... ow! That!" Robin objected, and wriggled on the man's lap. Whenever Slade used that kind of voice, it always went straight to his groin.

"Oh, but you like any part of my body slamming into you, don't you? Or is it frustrating not to feel filled? Stretched?" Slade spoke in a purr, every other word accented by a spanking.

Robin couldn't answer, he merely tried to keep back the moans and shouts he felt building up inside him. Slade was turning him on, and it wasn't fair! The man knew that he loved it when he talked dirty, and Robin knew that Slade didn't mean anything by those words other than to arouse him. And it worked.

"Eighteen. It feels like you are up for some more punishment... do you want to be on your knees, boy? Bracing yourself on the bed, while I slam into you from behind?"

"Y-yes..." Robin gasped, as another swat hit.

"That's my horny little princess... and twenty..." the man chuckled, finishing the punishment. "Now get on the bed like you wanted..."

Robin's face was quite red, but he still did as the mercenary suggested. It was like he couldn't help it, and he didn't know who to hate more, Slade or himself.

A moment later he felt a soft kiss on his burning cheeks, and then one on the other. The kisses continued, moving closer to the middle, and Robin arched his back, spreading his knees even further.

"Yes... please... pleeeeeeease, Slade... Please... aaaahhh!" A hot, slick tongue was prodding his entrance, and Robin had to dig his nails into the palms of his hands so he wouldn't come on the spot. He loved this. Slade didn't do it often enough, but it was great as an apology or when the man wanted something... because Robin would say or do anything in the world for the mercenary in these moments, including, probably, shooting starving puppies.

"Oh god... oh god... yes... oh...yes..." Robin gasped incomprehensibly. The slick muscle was fucking him now, and, short of chopping his own hand off, Robin knew he couldn't hold back any longer.

"I... I'm... gonna..!"

The teen felt Slade grab, or rather cup, the head of his cock, but if the man had tried to stop the orgasm, it didn't work. Robin cried out into the mattress and shook violently as he came.

Slade grinned to himself, slathered the hero's cum over his own cock and pushed into the wet, slightly open hole. The teen cried out again, and, within a few thrusts, was pushing back eagerly. Only moments later Slade grunted out his release, while Robin gasped out his second.

Robin woke up as Slade carried him to the shower and, after a steamy session in there, the teen sighed happily as the man carefully massaged the aloe-cream into his skin. It made the young man relax completely, and before he knew it he drifted off again.

* * *

Robin woke up early the next morning with his head on Slade's arm. He smiled and moved in closer, enjoying the scent of the man, the feel of the cool sheets and the soft bed. He knew that he was surrounded by luxury, but these three things, especially the first, were all he _really_ wanted.

"You're snuggling," Slade suddenly grumbled.

"Well, maybe you should _let _me?" Robin suggested, but then sighed and sat up. "I'm getting dressed for breakfast."

"Maybe I _should_ have let you," the man admitted a bit regretfully.

"No, we better get up, I'm sure there's a lot to do…" the teen yawned and stood up. He let Slade watch his naked ass for as long as possible while getting ready, just to make sure the man knew what he had just missed by being part of the anti-snuggle league.

It wasn't that Robin was abnormally clingy, but he_ did_ like being pressed up against Slade's body on occasion, and he felt like he was _entitled_ to it. One of these days he would tie the man down and snuggle the hell out of him.

"The Joker called, he wants his grin back…" Slade muttered dryly and gave his young lover a worried look.

Robin's smirk only widened.

* * *

As they walked downstairs Robin marveled at the transformation the vast entrance-hall had gone through. The wedding-ceremony would take place here, since it wasn't safe to be outside due to paparazzi. Rose would come down the curved staircase and the 'altar' so to speak, would be in front of the large carved oak doors. It would all be set up an hour before the ceremony so the chairs and everything wouldn't be in the way during the morning, but everything shone like it had been cleaned with toothbrushes. Perhaps it had.

On the way to the kitchen they passed the formal dining hall where the dinner would take place. The door was slightly open and Robin glanced in at the already set tables. There were tables set up for food and drinks as well, although those were of course empty for now. One wasn't however; it rather sparkled with the wrapping-paper and bows of the wedding-gifts that-

"Oh, FUCK!"

"Well, yes, if you insist…" Slade chuckled behind Robin, who had stopped dead and was staring into the room with dread.

"No… _We're_ fucked! Slade… _wedding presents_!"

"Oh… fuck."

"EXACTLY! I had planned to get back sooner and do some shopping, and then in Carson, I just forgot! Have you had any prepared?"

"No, my plans were similar to yours… You don't think actually showing_ up_ would be considered as…?"

"Not unless you want to spend the dinner explaining why we might _not_ have…" Robin snorted.

"Right."

"Well, we better move! Come on!" Robin grabbed Slade's hand and dragged him into the kitchen through the smaller dining room usually used. That room was now half full with those of the guest who were early risers, like Raven, Superman and Bumble Bee, but Robin only waved to them and practically crashed through the next door.

"No running in my kitchen, Master Richard," Alfred's voice called out. There were several staff-members around, preparing both for breakfast and the wedding-dinner and Alfred kept a close eye on everything.

"Al! Trouble!" Robin hissed.

"Oh, my, what is it?" the old man asked worriedly.

"We... well… our missions… something's come up and... can we borrow a motorcycle for an hour or two?"

"Yes, I doubt very much that Master Bruce will need any of them this morning…" the butler said. "But why in the world…?"

"Shopping! Cover for us?"

"I'll try."

"Thanks!" Robin grinned and rushed out of the kitchen again.

"Will you let go of my hand?" Slade asked when they were half way to the underground garage.

"What? Oh, sorry," Robin grinned. "What should we get them? Any ideas?"

"We'll find something…" Slade said confidently.

* * *

An hour later that confidence had cracked rather badly.

They had borrowed a bike, sharing it with Slade driving, and headed downtown to the more exclusive shopping-areas of Gotham City. Robin had, feeling somewhat embarrassed, asked Slade to cover the cost of his present until they came back to Jump. The man had agreed after receiving number nine thousand nine hundred and ninety six in a public bathroom, which left Robin blushing for twenty minutes.

They had hunted through the different departments, looking at beautiful glass bowls, silver wear and tablecloths until Slade had claimed that he could feel his Estrogen-level rising.

"How about some nice wine?" the mercenary suggested.

"So Bruce can get her drunk?" Robin smirked.

"Ah. Damn."

"Besides, Wayne Manor has one of the most extensive wine-collections in the US… there's enough to keep them both drunk for the rest of their lives…" Robin shrugged and threw himself down on a bench. They had come down a few levels from the upturned-nose parts of the store to the levels where there were hot-dog stands.

"I guess money would be equally useless…" Slade said and sat down as well.

"Yeah… and I mean, they _have _everything, right? Unless you want to jump ahead and give them baby-clothes?"

"Hell no."

"Thought so… I guess there are experience-gifts… like travels and adventures and things, but I don't really think bungee-jumping would do the trick… Bruce would feel like he was at work…"

"Yes, and they can already go to any luxury resort they-" Slade suddenly stopped talking and looked down the main indoor shopping-street.

Robin followed the look and burst out laughing.

"We _can't_?"

"Can't we?"

"No! Or… well… can we?"

"We might have to sweeten the deal a bit," Slade smirked, "but why not?"

"Oh… it's so baaaad! Let's do it!" Robin shot to his feet and then hesitated. "I mean, if you don't mind… you know… giving a gift together?"

"Why should I?" Slade said and looked surprised. Robin smiled at him until the man continued. "It's practical. Besides, I'm paying for it."

Robin kicked the mercenary's shin and walked away.

Slade cursed and hobbled after the teen, who was at least heading for their decided destination.

"What was_ that_ for?" he growled as ha caught up

"If you don't know, I'm not telling."

"Well, that was informative."

"Well, maybe it was just an allergic reaction, okay?"

"Displaying as a kick? And to what?"

"To jerkiness."

"I think this is one of those moments I need to talk to Rose about," Slade sighed.

"I don't know. Walking around looking at china-patterns for a few more hours might help," Robin muttered and then sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry. Let's forget it, alright? I was being childish and you were just being you."

"I'm _always_ me."

"Exactly. I should be used to it by now," the teen mumbled and then suddenly burst out laughing.

"A mood-swing? I _knew_ we were in those stores for too long!" Slade complained.

"No," Robin grinned and pointed, "just something extra to add to the gift."

Slade saw what the teen had discovered and chuckled.

"Let's do some shopping…"

* * *

"Well, I can see myself living here, but the wood-paneling simply_ has_ to go…"

Robin heard the droning voice as he came down the stairs just half an hour before the wedding was about to start.

"Shift! Shield! Glad to see you!" he grinned at the odd couple. As they lived in Gotham, they hadn't spent the night, but arrived, along with some other guests, through the Bat Cave. Shift, who had been busy judging the décor, turned and smiled as heartily as he knew how. At least his mouth turned upwards. His hair was his preferred long blond, but his large eyes were a light, almost striking green color, announcing to the world that he was, indeed, rather special.

"Oh, hello Robin, very nice to see you," the shape-changer greeted the hero.

"How did the mission go? We haven't heard back from the customer," Shield butted in.

"They paid in advance, though…" Shift said, which, to him, clearly made it a done deal.

"Oh, it went… well, we'll talk about it another day…" Robin smiled, not wanting to ruin the mood. "Anne! Magpie! I haven't seen you guys in forever!"

There was some general hugging, and they were soon joined by the Titans East triad of Speedy, Aqualad and Flame.

"It's so great to see you again," Robin smiled. "Magpie? Could I have my bow-tie back please?"

"Oh, sorry…" The blond little thief blushed. "I swear I'm working on it…"

"Yeah, his way _up_ to wallpaper…" Shield chuckled and ruffled the younger man's hair.

"Oh, my… very nice indeed…" Shift suddenly said, and Robin turned, wondering if the shape-shifter had spotted the chandelier or something, but no. It was Slade. And, though the man _did_ look very nice, Robin didn't appreciate someone else ogling him… at least not someone as pretty as Shift.

"We're needed upstairs," Slade told him, without, luckily for him, giving Shift as much as a glance.

"Right… nervous?" Robin asked with a worried little tremble to his voice.

"Well, when Rose asked if I'd lead her down the aisle, I suggested that we'd go out the back door instead… you were right, she _doesn't_ have any sense of humor at the moment."

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"I'm not… for our sake I hope she has lightened up by dinner."

"Maybe we should make sure that back door is unlocked?" Robin chuckled. They stopped at the top of the stairs as they were going in separate directions from now on. "Well, good luck. Remember that you are _giving_ her away, not _dragging_ her away," the hero reminded the mercenary. "I'm not sure what the Best Man has to do if the father of the bride won't give her over, but I might have to get violent."

"Might be worth it."

"I also might have to declare my debt to you significantly lowered."

"Ah. I see. I'll behave."

"Good boy," Robin smirked.

* * *

"Have you stopped him from kidnapping her?" Bruce asked nervously when Robin joined him in what was now the groom's dressing-room.

"Yup, he'll stay put… he might not be happy about it, but he will," the teen grinned.

"Good… good… best Best Man ever…" the Dark Knight said and checked the buttons of his jacket. He was wearing a black tux which looked so sharp it might be considered a weapon. "So, are you going to tell me what happened on that mission of yours?"

"Not today. After the honeymoon. Most of it was boring, anyway…" the Titan shrugged.

"Really?" Bruce narrowed his eyes.

"Um… yeah… a bit…" Robin looked away.

"Do I even want to know?"

"Doubtful."

"Fine." The man checked his watch. "Well… it's time…"

"You look like you are gonna run…" the teen grinned.

"I never thought I'd get nervous!" Bruce muttered irritably.

"Ah, just pretend that instead of our best friends and the love of your life, you are going out there to face the joined forces of the Joker, Two-Face and Poison Ivy," Robin suggested.

"Ah… thank you. I feel much better now," the millionaire grinned. "Oh, god, you have the rings, right?"

There was a knock on the door and Alfred, who was serving as a Groomsman, or really an extra Best Man, put his head in.

"If you are ready, Master Bruce?"

"We are," Robin grinned.

* * *

A little while later they were standing in front of the altar. The marriage officiant was, Robin discovered with a bit of surprise, Superman. Since the teen hadn't been involved much in the wedding and only found out that he was going to be Best Man last night, Robin realized that there were a lot of things he had missed out on.

"Sorry I wasn't here to throw you a bachelor-party…" he whispered to Bruce, who was trying not to rock on his heels as his eyes were glued to the staircase.

"Why did you think we kept it all to ourselves?" the man smirked.

"Well, I'll get you one later…" the teen threatened. "Oh, by the way, does Rose have bridesmaids or something?"

"Well, since she had no-one to invite, she had to borrow some…" Bruce chuckled softly. "You'll see…"

At that moment the music started and the guests stood up.

Robin couldn't hold back a gasp of surprise as, coming down the stairs, were Starfire and Raven, in matching beautiful dresses in a lilac hue.

"Raven in a dress?" Robin hissed. "How did she get her to agree to that?"

"Let's just say that Raven is both her something borrowed and something blue…" Bruce grinned.

A strange sort of sigh was heard from their guests as Rose appeared on the arm of Slade. Robin heard Bruce swallow loudly, but was too busy gaping to make fun of him. The white-haired woman was simply beautiful in a wide, feminine dress which still didn't look like an overblown wedding-cake with whipped cream.

She had a large bouquet with white and lilac roses in the same shade as the bridesmaids' dresses, and now Robin discovered that the floral decorations down the aisle also were in those colors, in fact everything was, but it was subtle. He hadn't quite noticed that before, but, after all, he was male. Flowers and decorations normally didn't register much.

The giving of the bride went surprisingly smoothly, and Robin smiled proudly at a slightly grumpy Slade.

The rest of the ceremony was shorter than Robin had feared, but very beautiful, and the teen had to blink a bit when the couples said their vows. Robin provided the rings and a moment later Clark pronounced them husband and wife.

After congratulating the couple, the guests were shown into the dining-hall, while the main wedding-party stayed behind.

"You look absolutely beautiful!" Robin told Rose.

"Yes, my girl cleans up well, doesn't she?" Slade smirked.

"Dad!"

"Just joking. You look just like a prince-_OW_-queen." The man quickly changed the term after getting an elbow in the side from Robin.

"Not that I don't agree, but I have dibs on that title," Robin muttered and then blushed as eyebrows were raised in his direction.

"Of course," Slade smirked. "Now, has anyone explained to you the traditions involving the Best Man and the bride's father?"

"No?"

"Then I'll be happy to make some up…"

"Before the groom submits to his urge to _hurt _the bride's father, maybe we should have dinner?" Bruce suggested dryly.

"Good idea," Robin nodded.

"Yes. Gives me more time to come up with those traditions…" Slade smirked.

"Father, behave," Rose hissed.

Slade sighed the sigh of every misunderstood man on earth and nodded before reaching out his arm to Robin.

"I'll escort you in. It's tradition. Trust me."

"I'll pretend to be stupid just this once…" Robin grinned and took the man's arm.

_To Be Continued…_

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked it!


	15. The Winner Takes it All

A/N: Welcome to the last chapter! A long last chapter! Well… long-ish… I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Black Sheep - Third Time's the Charm**

**Chapter 15: The Winner Takes it All**

The tables were arranged as an 'E' with the bride and groom sitting in the middle of the main table under an arch of white and lilac roses. The main wedding party was placed at that table as well, of course, even though it got a bit complicated since the father of the bride and the best man were a couple. They got to sit next to each other anyway, but Robin could see Alfred flipping through mountains of etiquette-books to try and sort out the seating arrangement.

"This is Bruce's idea of a small, simple wedding?" Slade asked Robin in a whisper.

"Oh yes, this is so informal I think that's part of why Alfred is crying…" Robin grinned back.

"Someone should tell him that informal means jeans and sneakers…" the man muttered.

"Don't you dare! He'll _die_!" Robin snickered. "It's bad enough for him that there's a buffet!"

At that moment the old butler, who was sitting on the other side of the newlyweds, clinked his glass and stood up.

"Dear friends and family, I am sure that no one, apart from Bruce and Rose, of course, are happier than me today."

"He's damn right about that…" Slade muttered into Robin's ear, before Alfred continued.

"I worried for many years about whether or not there was a woman out there who did not only want Master Bruce for his money, but also would accept his… _extracurricular _activities…"

There were some snickers around the tables, and Robin looked out over the large group of heroes and confidants. Some of them had chosen to come masked, but many were in civilian clothes, and Robin had a hard time placing them all.

"Rose however," Alfred went on, "is a remarkable woman. I liked her instantly, and if Master Bruce hadn't had the good sense to propose to her, I would have been forced to _make_ him. Now, before we enjoy dinner, a few words from the bride's father, but first; Bruce, Rose, I wish you all the happiness in the world."

There was a smattering of cheers across the room and then Slade stood up.

"I'm afraid I have been away until very recently, so I didn't have time to prepare a speech. Work does that, I'm afraid. It takes away the opportunity for lovers to be together, for parents to spend time with their children, and for me to stop this before it could go this far…" Slade muttered the last bit loudly enough for everyone to hear, and the guests grinned and snickered. They all knew about the 'delicacy' of the situation, after all. "Still, Rose, you are stubborn, I'm afraid, and Robin insists that Bruce is not the worst man in the world. I agree. I've met a few men I would have liked you to marry even less. I also killed most of them, but no matter. You are, as Alfred so correctly described you, remarkable, however, and I'm sure you can keep him in line. And Bruce, there are two people I trust more than anything in this room and they both vouch for you and have forbidden me to kill you. I respect them and their wishes so I won't, unless, of course, you ever hurt either of them. Or call me 'dad'. Then you're dead. To the bride and groom," Slade said and raised his glass.

Even Bruce laughed as the cheers exploded in the room, and then someone called for the best man to make a speech. The call was echoed until Robin stood up uncertainly and swallowed.

"Ermm… Okay, I was also busy and didn't have time to prepare anything, but Bruce, Rose, congratulations. I know, despite _some_ people's misgivings, that you will be very happy together. Bruce, I will do my best to keep Slade from attacking you, but I should heed his warning if I were you. If there's something I've learned, it's that he's very protective of the people he loves." The words were out of his mouth before he even realized what they meant. Or _might _mean. He felt mortified, wondering if Slade thought that Robin took it for granted that he loved him. Maybe the man would even standup and object. There was a moment of emptiness until he felt a hand on the back of his leg, under the table so no one could see it, squeezing softly. Robin looked down at the man and got a smirk and a small nod, which made it possible for him to continue.

"Now, let's not focus on the dangers," Robin said, "but on the thing so many of us in here live for: the adventure. I have a feeling this will be your biggest one yet." With that he raised his glass and again the rest of the guests joined in.

Robin sank down on his chair, almost shaking, but no one noticed, as Alfred stood up at that moment and invited the guests to the buffet table.

"I _do_ tend to get rather annoyed when people try to hurt you, you know…" Slade whispered in his ear, and Robin blushed, his heart skipping a beat.

"Yeah… same here…" he mumbled back.

The food was absolutely delicious and there were lots of it; chicken, fish, roast beef and vegetarian dishes, so everyone could find something they liked. Robin found himself with too much on his plate as usual when there was a buffet… he always wanted to try a little bit of everything, and things piled up.

After dinner it was time for Bruce and Rose to open the wedding-presents.

"I'm going to stand behind you, so don't move…" Robin hissed as their present was the next to be chosen. So far they couple had gotten a very beautiful assortment of glass, silver, art and textiles, as well as generous donations to the Wayne Foundation and the Brother/Sister program Rose was running. Slade's and Robin's gift was… a bit different.

"Oh, this one is from dad and Robin," Rose said, reading the card of the small, flat, present. "Oh… it's a… book?" she said when she started to open it. "Let's see, it's called 'How to-'" Rose stopped there, stared at the title and colored rather strangely. "Here," she said in a strangled voice and gave the book over to Bruce, who read the title and then glanced up at Slade and Robin.

"It's called 'How to Shit in the Woods' by Kathleen Meyer," he said, and the room erupted in a roar of laughter.

"It will come in handy. Trust me," Robin said from where he was half hiding behind Slade. "Open it."

"Do I dare?" Bruce smirked but did. "Oh, what's this?"

"That is a list of camping-gear you now own, as well as an open reservation to a wilderness-site and a map of their hiking-trails," Slade explained.

"We wondered what to get you, since you have it all, but then we decided not to actually get you _more_, but to take things _away_. You will camp for a week every year, to remember what's really important in life. Not things, not money, not work, but each other," Robin filled in. "And, to make sure you can leave, Slade and I will look after Gotham when you're gone."

"Every year?" Rose asked, smiling a bit teasingly at her father.

"Yes," the mercenary nodded, like he wasn't aware of the commitment he had made, not only to his daughter and her husband, but perhaps especially to Robin.

"Does that include baby-sitting?" Bruce asked with a grin.

"Of course!" Robin smirked, at the same time as Slade said "Hell no!"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it…" Robin snickered, holding Slade's arm as it seemed that the thought of a baby and what Bruce had to do to his daughter to have one, didn't sit very well with the man.

"Thank you. Both of you," Bruce said, still looking highly amused by the whole thing, and Rose's lips was twitching as well. Robin drew a deep sigh of relief. It seemed the couple had a sense of humor after all. The guests certainly did.

The enormous cake was in the same color-scheme as the rest of the wedding, of white frosting and lilac details. Robin was already full, but couldn't resist a piece, of course.

"I'm going to swell up like a whale…" he murmured between bites.

"You could do with a few more pounds, especially after our… little trip," Slade said next to him.

"It never hurts to keep an eye on one's weight, though…" a voice said next to them and Shift came forward. "But of course, tights have a bit of _give_…"

"Ah, that's sweet of you… oh, by the way…" Robin said, looking somewhat worried, "I think your nose is a bit crooked…"

This made the shape-changer flee to the closest bathroom.

"Not nice, Robin…" Shield chuckled. "But deserved. I swear he doesn't _mean_ to be nasty, he just has a bit of trouble getting the hang of not just saying what he is thinking…"

"That's alright, he's actually better now…" Robin chuckled. "Please go tell him I was only joking before he has an accident?"

"I will," the large teen grinned and followed his gender-challenged girlfriend.

"Everything is so beautiful!" someone else said, and it turned out to be Flame, framed by Speedy and Aqualad. The teen's hair and eyes were flickering from yellow to pink and red, like it really was on fire.

"Yeah, it's all posh enough…" Speedy grinned.

"You served fish, though…" Aqualad pointed out.

"Sorry, but people _do_ want some salmon from time to time…" Robin sighed with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" the dark-haired teen mumbled.

"I'm sure they weren't personal friends of yours…" Slade, who thought the conversation was stupid, snorted.

"Ignore the insensitive bastard. I do," Robin muttered.

"We were wondering if there will be dancing?" Speedy asked.

"I'm scared now, but yes…" Robin admitted. "In the ballroom in a minute I should think."

"Flame wanted to ask you for a dance," Aqualad revealed.

"What? I didn't… I … damn you!" Flame spluttered and turned pink all over.

"Of course I'll dance with you," Robin laughed.

"'Of _course_'?" Slade growled.

"I'll dance with you too, Slade," Robin sighed.

"You better."

"Slade knows how to dance? This I gotta see!" Speedy grinned, safely out of reach from the man's fists.

At that moment the doors to the ball-room opened. The room was seldom used, although Wayne Enterprises had the occasional board-meeting there.

The bride and groom had decided against live music due to the security-risk, but when the first notes began streaming out of hidden speakers, the quality of the sound made it seem like there was an orchestra in the room after all.

Bruce and Rose had the first dance alone and Robin thought it was even more romantic than the wedding-ceremony. He felt an urge to hold Slade's hand, but didn't think the man would appreciate it, so he settled for leaning back against him slightly while watching the couple, instead. Slade didn't seem to have any problems with _that_. Robin smirked. One had to be shifty to get away with romantic gestures when one was with a mercenary.

After the song finished, Slade danced with his daughter, and then it was Robin's turn to dance with Rose, while other couples joined in as well. Bruce was dancing with Wonder Woman at the moment, who was wearing a very nice dress, although Robin couldn't help but think she looked weird in it.

"You take care of my daddy now, won't you?" Rose said.

"Likewise… kind of…" Robin grinned.

"Oh, our family ties are rather complicated, aren't they?" the bride snickered.

"They match our relationships, I think…" the teen smiled.

"They do. But I mean it… look out for him. Don't let him do stupid things."

"I'll try… if he'll let me," the hero blushed.

"Oh, he'll _let_ you… he'll _gladly _let you. He can barely keep his eye off you, you know."

Robin snorted softly and blushed deeper.

Rose delivered him into Slade's arms a little while later.

"What did my daughter tell you to make you that red in the face?" the man asked, carefully placing his hands around the teen, mindful of his burns.

"Errmmm… nothing…"

"I don't believe you."

"Well, I'm not telling…" Robin grinned up at the man.

"Maybe it's for the best…" Slade muttered. "I have a feeling I don't want to know."

"You don't…"

A while later a very reluctant Slade had to give Robin up to a nervous Flame for one song, but as the evening turned into night, the couple danced more and more exclusively. Slade was not a bad dancer, it turned out. He knew how to waltz, for example, where most people just shuffled around. There was no modern dance-music, although the classical score morphed into love ballads as time went on, which suited most people who wanted to slow-dance.

Robin spotted Green Arrow and Black Canary, and had a feeling there was another wedding on the horizon.

"What are you thinking about?" Robin asked Slade as he was leaning against the man, eyes closed, moving slowly to the tune.

"Lex Luthor."

Robin stepped back.

"Eww!"

Slade chuckled.

"I'm sorry it wasn't what you wanted to hear, but at least I was honest. But, if it makes you feel better, I only_ just_ thought of him… he hasn't been on my mind all evening."

"Good. I was worried there for a while," Robin snorted.

"When can we leave for Metropolis?"

"The day after tomorrow… remember the official wedding-reception? Dick has to show."

"Right…" Slade said. "Have you any ideas about what you want to do about Lex?"

"Yes," Robin grinned. "Just make sure we get in…"

"Why would I leave the fun part to you?" the man objected. "It's more up my alley anyway. You are cheating me out of a job."

"Well, you owe me."

"I thought it was the other way around?"

"No, you owe me for not backing down. You _should_ have, you know."

"Business and pleasure, Robin…" Slade sighed.

"Bullshit!" Robin hissed. "You should _thank_ Lex for setting it all up, because if this had been a _real_ mission, and you had put your damn work ahead of me… you would have lost me."

"But it's alright for _you_ to do the same thing? You should always get to complete _your _mission while _I _have to step aside?" the mercenary asked a bit stiffly.

"Yes. Life's unfair like that…" Robin smirked. "I'm one of the good guys, Slade. We always win. Deal with it."

"I'd love to deal with _you_…" the man growled playfully.

"Later. Seriously, though, if we have to face each other again…" Robin mumbled unhappily and buried his face against his partner's chest.

"That's unlikely."

"Still!"

Slade sighed deeply, and rested his chin on top of the black locks.

"You really have me by the balls, don't you?"

"Mm-hmm," the teen said, pressing himself closer.

"Maybe we better compare notes before any assignments from now on, then…" the man muttered.

"Because you wouldn't step aside"? Robin asked anxiously.

"No, because I _would_. And my image would never recover," the mercenary admitted.

"Oh, just tell them I have you by the balls, people will understand…" Robin snickered.

"Not very likely… but I have to keep you around until you have paid off your debt… how about nine thousand nine hundred and ninety five?"

"Okay... but not in the middle of the dance floor…" Robin chuckled and dragged the man upstairs.

* * *

The wedding reception at the hotel the next day was exceptionally boring, with long, droning speeches where all of Bruce's contacts pretended that they had known Rose for years. Her sudden appearance on the society scene in Gotham had raised quite a few questions and given her several female enemies as well, of the bitchier kind.

The whole thing had been set up by a wedding-planner working with the PR-staff of Wayne Enterprises, and, though probably beautiful to an outsider, spoke nothing of the bride and groom's personalities. Still, this was what Bruce and Rose had wanted, they had preferred to spend all their energy on the real wedding, and leave the public appearance up to the professionals.

Robin made sure he was in as many photographs as he could, in his 'Dick Grayson' disguise, and answered all of the reporter's inane questions. By the end of the day he came back to the mansion and collapsed in Slade's arms, claiming to hate the world.

Bruce and Rose had left for their honeymoon and, apart from Alfred and the staff, the house was now empty.

"I got us plane-tickets for tomorrow. We'll fly most of the way and then drive the rest," Slade informed the teen while undressing him.

"Mmm… sounds good…" Robin grinned. "Arrgh, I have to get these extensions out…"

"Don't… I'd like to fuck Dick too… he's such a pompous little brat," Slade grinned.

"Yes, but Dick doesn't _fuck_ criminals. He's not even _gay_," Robin pointed out.

"Then he's in for a new experience…" Slade smirked and flipped the teen over.

"Get you filthy hands off me, you beast! Do you know who I am?" Robin exclaimed in his snooty Grayson-voice.

"Of course I do… and if you want to keep that pretty little face, rich boy, you should consider playing nice…" Slade growled, making a pleasant tingle race up Robin's spine.

"Who do you think you are?" he replied, uncharacteristically weakly fighting the man, who was now pressing him down on the bed.

"I'm stronger, faster, more ruthless and considerably more dangerous than anyone you've ever met," Slade hissed in his ear. "And there's no one around to help you."

"What… what are you going to…?"

"I'm just gonna show you a good time, pretty boy…" Slade purred, and let up on the teen's back only to pull his legs apart.

"No! No, you can't! I have money… I'll pay you!" Robin, or rather Dick, pleaded, trying to crawl away.

"You'll pay, alright… and you will feel it for a long time…" the mercenary promised as he got in position.

"No! You ca-aaahhh!" The scream was half faked, half real, as the man had plunged straight in and the little role-play had actually managed to tense the teen up.

"Look at it this way… if your sugar-daddy Wayne abandons you, you now know a new skill… you'll make a lot of money on a corner, boy…" the man told him as he started thrusting. "I might even sell you myself…"

"You… you're a monster…" Robin tried to sound like he was sobbing, but he was panting too hard, and when Slade pulled him up on his knees he didn't struggle very much at all.

A while later the couple was catching their breaths, grinning at each other.

"That was… pretty hot…" Robin admitted.

"Yes, we should do this more often…" Slade smirked.

"You just want to rape me again."

"Guilty."

"Yeah, well… I want you to," the teen snickered and then rolled closer for a kiss.

* * *

They said goodbye to Alfred early the next morning.

"Did you find what you needed in the lab, Master Richard?" Alfred asked.

"The lab?" Slade frowned, not knowing that the hero had been down to the cave.

"Yeah, thanks," Robin nodded to the butler, ignoring Slade for now. "Oh, I almost forgot, I need to borrow something from the kitchen…"

"Of course…" the old man said and showed him the way, while Slade packed their rather light bags into the car. One of the staff-members would take them to the airport, since Robin had decided that Alfred needed some time off. The faithful servant had still insisted on making a wonderful breakfast for them, however.

As they drove away Robin leaned back into the back seat next to Slade and drew a deep breath.

"Well, it's over... and no one killed anyone else…" he grinned. The opaque partition separating them from the driver was raised and soundproof, which gave them some privacy.

"You've been worried?"

"Oh, yes… through all of this, having guns pointed at me, almost dying from thirst and being chained out in the dessert… all I was worried about was the wedding…" Robin chuckled.

"Let's just say I don't blame you."

"So… have your feelings about Bruce changed?"

"Yes, I _adore_ him now…" Slade muttered sarcastically. Robin gave him a look which made the man continue. "Well, fine. He _does_ have a sense of humor, and is not a total waste of atoms, I guess… and Rose actually married him, so…"

"You will be golfing together in no time…" Robin chuckled.

"Don't make me throw up in the car…" the man groaned. "By the way… how long is the drive to the airport?"

"About thirty or forty minutes, depending on the traff-mmmpph!"

Slade knew how to make every minute count.

* * *

The flight was uneventful, but thankfully not too long. They still traveled on their fake ID's but had no problems with security.

Afterwards they had to drive for what should have been a little over an hour, but, because of roadwork, it took them more than two. No matter. They weren't in a rush… besides, the adult versions of car-games were rather fun.

They arrived in Metropolis completely anonymously, just one of the flood of cars that entered the city.

"If you see Superman; duck," Slade told the teen as they cruised the city's streets.

Robin chuckled.

"Yeah, it would be rather difficult to explain what we are doing here…" he admitted. "So, what's next?"

"The normal office-hours will end in a while… We're going to start with borrowing one of LexCorp's computers, but first we need a bit of a disguise…"

Robin only nodded. Slade was in charge of getting them into the building, and he trusted the man to figure out how to do it with as little violence as possible. He blinked when he realized this, because they hadn't actually _discussed_ it. Still, Robin had complete faith that the mercenary wouldn't simply open fire in the lobby.

An hour later they were standing pretty close to the LexCorp headquarters. They were wearing sunglasses, baseball-caps, horrible t-shirts and cameras. Again the teen reflected over the fact that he might end up on the 'worst dressed hero'-list if he continued to hang out with Slade. Especially since Robin also had a fanny-pack. The getup did its job though; they looked like the rest of the tourists milling around on one of Metropolis main streets. They took photos and consulted a map while waiting. They had been careful not to get there too early, and already people were leaving.

"That one. He's one of Luthor's secretaries. With laptop," Slade suddenly muttered, having recognized the man from a meeting with Lex a few years back.

"I'm on it," Robin nodded and hurried forward. The target was heading down the street, perhaps to the subway-station close by, and they had little time to lose.

"Sir? Sir, please sir?" Robin called out in a very broken accent. The man turned his way and slowed down. "I am sorry, sir, could you help? Looking for Glen…. Glenmorgan Square?" Robin said and waved his map. They had chosen a destination tourists would want to visit, but made sure it would be a little bit difficult to describe the route there. "You show me where on map I am? Please?" Robin begged.

The man shrugged, figuring it wouldn't take more than a second or two.

"Sure son," he said and came closer.

They were still surrounded by a stream of people going in both directions, however, and Robin pretended to have trouble with the huge map. He looked around and, as by accident, spotted an open gate, leading into an enclosed courtyard. Robin stopped in the tunnel-like entryway, out of the rush of the people, and smoothed the map out on the wall, twisting and turning it as he pretended to look for the square. He looked back at the secretary pleadingly. The guy shrugged yet again and walked into the trap.

As soon as the secretary had left the sidewalk, Slade came up behind him. The mercenary blocked the narrow doorway very efficiently, and their victim didn't notice a thing before he was expertly hit on the base of his neck and crumpled to the ground.

Slade caught him before he fell over completely, and Robin deftly caught the computer-bag.

If Luthor's employee should wake up and discover that his computer had been stolen, that would mean that alarms would go off, however, so they took the man into the courtyard, which was made up as a small garden, leading off to different businesses, and quickly hid him behind some bushes. Slade tied him with plastic cable-ties they had picked up, and gagged the man using his own socks and ties, while Robin hacked the computer.

"We're still close enough to LexCorp's wireless grid… wonderful…" Robin grinned, glad that they didn't actually have to be inside the building. Still, with any other computer, they wouldn't be able to access it. This one, however, was already connected, and Robin had found the code to the laptop itself in the man's wallet. Lazy and stupid people made the world a much better place for the criminally inclined. Even if they happened to really be heroes.

"I'm in, what am I looking for?" Robin asked.

"Luthor's schedule. I just got the guy's key-card," Slade told him.

"Check his wallet and see if there's a code in there…" Robin grinned as he started looking, "Ah, they use the mail-program's calendar-system. How… well… _dull_! Let's see, Lex is added to his 'share calendar' list… okay, today… oh, he's a busy man, let's hope he drops dead from a heart attack soon. He's in a meeting right now, in the 'blue conference room' wherever the hell that is. It's ending at six, and then he has a phone-meeting overseas at seven-thirty. No one else invited."

"Good, he'll probably take that in his office, then… It's a quarter past five now, that means we have forty-five minutes to reach his office before he gets there."

"Sounds like plenty of time," Robin shrugged. "Lead the way."

* * *

Lex Luthor walked into his office at ten minutes past six. He stopped in confusion as his high-backed office-chair swung around and there was Robin, grinning like a maniac.

"I always wanted to do that…" the teen snickered. "Welcome, Mr. Luthor! I wish I had a white cat to pet and a trapdoor in the floor, but I have something better. I have Slade."

The billionaire heard the door behind him click shut and lock. He knew the mercenary stood there, but chose to ignore him at the moment and focus on the brat in his chair, who now placed very dirty sneakers on his expansive mahogany desk.

"So you both survived then?" the businessman said. "My men reported you missing a few days ago, but I still had my hopes…"

"Sorry to disappoint. And yeah, we did. And now we've come for that coffee, although we'd rather skip that actually… though it_ was_ tiring getting up here… I'm not allowed to tell you _how_ we did it, however, because we might have to visit again," Robin said, checking his nails.

"Won't you sit down, Lex?" Slade asked behind the man, and Robin smiled, waving at a chair.

"I think I'd rather stand."

"Ah, then we have to insist…" Slade growled and grabbed the man. Lex Luthor was no puny lightweight, but Slade handled him like he was nothing more than a ragdoll, and soon he was bound to one of his own visitor's chairs. Slade had used cable ties again, as they were very quick, very effective, and cut into the skin if the victim struggled enough.

"I wonder how many people have been in your situation in that very chair?" Robin asked.

"You don't have to answer that, of course," Slade interrupted, "but think about where they are _now_, and whether or not you would like to end up like them."

"You can't kill me," the man said, trying to sound calm.

"We can't?" Robin gaped. "Slade, is that true?"

"Yes, well, it _would_ involve some serious economical problems for the U.S and actually the world in general…" the mercenary muttered, pretending to think it over.

"Oh… do we care about those kinds of things?" the teen asked.

"Not much, no."

"Good. Seems you were wrong, Lex!"

"So you have joined the other side, little Robin? What will the Bat say?" Luthor tried to taunt the teen.

"Seriously? Do you have _any_ idea how many people _he's_ killed? But Superman would be a bit pissed, perhaps… for a minute or two…"

"Now, now, Robin," Slade scolded the young man, "Don't talk badly about your mentor… sure, he crosses the line to get what he wants, but there are other ways as well… let's suggest a_ deal_ to Mr. Luthor and see what he thinks about it…"

"Sure, I wouldn't mind a billion dollars or something like that to play around with…" the teen shrugged.

"I had something much simpler in mind," the mercenary admitted.

"Simpler? He almost got us killed! Worse than that; he set_ out_ to get us killed…"

"Yes, that_ is_ a problem… if we had endangered some business of his on the mission, and he had merely defended himself, well, that is according to the rules… but he did plan this _especially_, with your death in mind. I'm annoyed."

"Oh-oh, Lex, Slade's annoyed at you… have you pissed yourself yet?" Robin asked the bound man.

"Enough! Stop this insanity! What is this deal of yours?" the man barked.

"Ah, but we were having _fun_…" Robin sighed. He_ loved_ playing this role of the dangerously insane. "But alright… the truth is, I haven't gone bad, not very, at least, and Slade hasn't, unfortunately, even found the narrow path on a _map_ yet, but we _do_ work together now and then… and would like to continue to do so without getting attacked by suicidal maniacs," the teen explained. "The question is, do we remove the man who _sent_ those maniacs, or do we kindly ask the man to not do that again? We might even add a 'please' at the end of that."

"No we won't," Slade snorted.

"Sorry. No we won't," Robin nodded. "But it's still a pretty good deal… stop dropping things on us and stuff, and you'll live. Oh, and you also have to give up on the idea of hiring Slade, because he's mine."

"Get out of my office!" the billionaire growled. Robin could see the pearls of sweat on his brow, however; Luthor wasn't as calm as he pretended to be.

"Fine, we'll leave you with a warning this time…" Slade said.

"We will?" Robin asked.

"We know where to find him, and I think we have proved that we can get at him at any time. Unless he is absolutely one hundred percent sure that we are dead, he's not safe."

"Oh, and if we die, we can make sure that the JL will find out… and I think Batman will take this personally," Robin smirked. "He's a vindictive bastard, my mentor. I like him. And we'll let him know how to get in as well, of course…"

"Yes, I'd almost like to see that…" Slade smirked. "Think about it, Mr. Luthor. Do you really need more enemies right now? If you are_ really_ that tired of living, I can help for free. You know how to reach me."

"Yeah, you better not answer _that _call during sex…" Robin muttered.

"I promise. Shall we go?" Slade asked.

"Not… quite yet… I know we said we'd let him live, but I don't think it's _fair_!" Robin objected. "He left us chained in the desert!"

"Yes, but you have to remember; he gave us a way out…"

"Yeah, the saw… that was nice of you, Sir…" Robin glared at the tied man. "What do you think Lex will do when we leave?" he then asked Slade.

"He'll yell for help, probably… security will hear him sooner or later," Slade answered.

"I don't like that. I think he should sit here and calmly and quietly contemplate our generous offer," Robin said.

"Yes, but how to convince him to do that?" the mercenary asked.

"Oh… I have an idea…" Robin grinned, the smile itself making more pearls of sweat appear on the billionaire's face.

Robin searched his fanny-pack and came up with half a roll of duct tape. He quickly taped the man's mouth shut and paused for a moment.

"You can breathe alright, can't you? You're sounding like a snorting bull. Don't do that. You remind me of Slade in bed… So… Now you will be quiet, but will you be _calm_? Will you really _think this over_? Hmmm… no, I have a feeling it will take something more…" Robin rummaged through the small bag and smiled. "Ah… here it is… You know, something you did really _impressed_ Slade; those suicide-rings… or rather, what was _inside_ them… We kept a few rings to analyze them, you know, but I guess I can spare this…"

Robin showed the man a very small glass vial with a cork stopper, the kind of fragile container Batman used in many of his smoke-bombs, not much bigger than a finger-nail, half filled with a white powder. Luthor's eyes went very big.

"Now…" Robin said, taping the thing a bit under the man's flaring nostrils, "you will be _perfectly_ safe… as long as you don't breathe too heavily, of course… you don't want this powder to fly up in the air, now do you? Imagine breathing it in… getting it in your eyes… There, are you calm? I'm going to remove the stopper now." Robin could hear the man holding his breath, and grinned. This was fun. Maybe he was in the wrong line of business after all? "Goodbye, Sir. Don't let any of us be annoyed with you again, or you will get much worse. Take it easy now! Don't panic!" Robin snickered.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later they were out on the street. Four minutes after that, they had cut the secretary free and soon they were heading out of Metropolis in their car.

"That went well," Slade hummed, looking very pleased.

"Yeah, it did. See, we _should_ go on missions together!" Robin grinned.

"The vial was a surprise, though."

"I know… you didn't like it?"

"I loved it. What was the white stuff?"

"Powdered sugar."

"Marvelous," Slade chuckled. "He'll be furious when he finds out."

"Furious enough to come after us?" Robin asked worriedly.

"No, I doubt that he'll want any more trouble…" the man smirked. "He's smart enough to lay low for a while."

"I sure hope so…" Robin sighed and remained quiet for couple of minutes. As they hit the main motorway out of the city, however, the teen chuckled softly.

"What is it?" Slade asked.

"You know what? We're driving away into the sunset together…"

"It would seem like that, yes…" Slade grinned.

"It's very romantic, you know…"

"It is… It makes me… want to ask you something…"

"Oh? What?" Robin asked, his heart skipping a beat.

"How about number nine thousand nine hundred and eighty seven?"

_The End_

* * *

A/N: Thank you for the music! –grins and hope people gets it- And thank you **Kam-frenshi **who reminded me of the wonderful book mentioned in this chapter. Yes, it's real. Haven't read it, but couldn't resist. ;)

Here it ends… with Slade proving he's as romantic as ever… I hope Robin bites him…

Anyway, I would like to thank all of you who has read and reviewed during this story! Please leave a final one… or a first one… no matter! ;) People hate me for my endings, but, hey, I thought I wrapped this story up pretty well, and I don't think the fluff-level got COMPLETELY out of hand, did it? (I'm not talking to those of you who are fluff lovers and secretly wanted it to be a double wedding…) ;)

I have no more planned for this universe at the moment… A trilogy is a good place to end, after all, but I'm not saying there won't be any more EVER, just don't hold your breath… Especially as the evil **Tinclay** has, unbidden of course, come up with so many wonderful suggestions for titles… -mutters-

A last, very big and warm thank you to** Jayto** who has juggled real work and beta-work during this time, I couldn't have done it without you!

All the best!

/Wynja

Notes on this chapter:

Metropolis location in relation to Gotham has changed from them being twin cities to on different sides of the continent, according to Wikipedia, so I just went with a relatively short flight and drive…

Glenmorgan Square is a canon Gotham location, again according to Wikipedia.

Green Arrow and Black Canary are already married… or not… it was a bit confusing there, I think, once more according to Wikipedia, but I simply pretended they are not YET in this universe.


End file.
